Mickey Lotus has watched several Do It Stevie’s Way Tournaments from the stands. His dad, St. Laurence coach Pete Lotus, had been 0-3 in championship games before Saturday night.
Mickey, a junior second baseman who’s excelling in his first season as a varsity starter for the Vikings, was thrilled to help his dad finally get over that hump.
“It makes me so happy to see him win this,” Mickey said. “I know he wanted this so bad. I’m happy we could get this done for him.”
Mickey drove in two runs and scored another Saturday as the Vikings rolled to a 10-1 win over Lemont in the Do It Stevie’s Way Tournament championship game at Ozinga Field in Crestwood.
Adrian Perez went 2-for-3 with three RBIs for St. Laurence (29-5). Louisville recruit Cory Les added a double, three runs and an RBI, while Danny Donovan finished 2-for-4 with a run.
Jimmy Benson, a Lemont resident, threw a complete game for the Vikings. He struck out five and allowed one earned run on six hits and two walks.
“It was against my hometown team and I know all the sophomores and juniors over there,” Benson said. “So, I definitely wanted to go out there and do my best.”
Oakton commit Zach Corse came up with an RBI single for Lemont (27-7-1). Zane Schneider singled and scored, while Missouri-St. Louis recruit Matt Devoy finished with a single and a walk.
St. Laurence’s first tournament title, meanwhile, was extra special for the Lotus family. Pete played baseball with Mark Bajenski, who runs the tournament in honor of his late son, Stevie, who was a senior baseball player at Mount Carmel in 2009 when he died at the age of 17 following complications from surgery to repair a heart defect.
“I’ve known ‘Baj’ for a long time,” Pete said. “We played together in the summers. I’d hang around with Stevie, playing catch with him. They had a great father-son relationship and that was before I had kids, so I thought it was really cool.
“I’ve always appreciated this tournament and the message, and this means a lot.”
Listening to Mark Bajenski speak about his son after the game, the significance of being on the field together as father and son wasn’t lost on either Lotus.
“Seeing my dad kind of tearing up out there, it’s definitely special,” Mickey said. “It means a lot to him and it means a lot to me, as well.”
Mickey and Pete said they were both a bit nervous about how this season together would go. But both are enjoying it.
“It’s been good,” Mickey said. “He tries to treat me just like any other player on this team and I think he does a good job of that. If he says something to me, I try to take it like it’s just coming from a regular coach and not my dad.”
Mickey was hit by a pitch and scored during a three-run first inning for St. Laurence. He later added a pair of RBI groundouts.
Mickey is now hitting .505 with 46 runs and 21 RBIs, silencing anyone who doubted he belonged in the varsity lineup.
“I definitely hear people talk about how I only play because he’s my dad, but I think it’s quite the opposite,” Mickey said. “I think he’s hard on me and I have to earn it.
“I try to block that stuff out. It doesn’t really matter to me. But for sure, I like to prove them wrong.”
For Mickey, putting on the St. Laurence jersey every day is still a surreal feeling.
“It’s an honor for me,” he said. “Before every game, I’m so grateful to have this opportunity. I talk about it all the time. I watched this growing up and always dreamed about it and now this is the time.
“It’s definitely awesome.”
