Lincoln-Way West avenges heartbreaker with win at Bradley-Bourbonnais

BRADLEY – In the moments following Cody Freitas’ two-run home run in the seventh inning of Monday’s 3-2 Bradley-Bourbonnais win at Lincoln-Way West, Warriors senior outfielder/pitcher Conor Essenburg and his teammates quickly knew they wanted revenge in Thursday’s SouthWest Suburban Conference tilt at the Boilermakers’ Carley Field.

And that’s what they got.

Essenburg led the game off with an opposite field home run that set the tone for the Warriors (16-5, 6-4) in a 6-3 win to earn a series split between a pair of SWSC teams looking to repeat last year’s Class 4A Sweet 16 runs.

“Honestly, we took it really personally,” Essenburg said of Monday’s game. “We were looking forward to this game for the rest of the week.”

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Bradley-Bourbonnais' Kason Bynum, right, fields a pickoff throw at second base as Lincoln-Way West's Conor Essenburg dives back during a game at Bradley-Bourbonnais Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)

Thursday gave the Warriors their fourth win in their last five games, including their second in as many days after handling Downers Grove North 8-0 Wednesday, with Essenburg’s leadoff homer giving them a lead they held throughout Thursday.

The Kentucky commit knew he needed to give the Warriors an early jolt and said he knew just how to do it when he took Liam Martin’s 3-1 offering over the right-center field fence.

“I went up to my coach and said, ‘Hey, right-center gap, I’m putting it over,’ and then I did it,” Essenburg said. “Obviously we got a lot of energy from that that really helped out.”

Martin settled in for the Boilers (15-7, 4-4), as the leadoff homer was the only earned run he allowed in four-plus innings of work. But thanks to a trio of unearned runs, including two more in the top of the fifth immediately after allowing an unearned run of their own that halved their lead to 2-1 in the fourth, Warriors southpaw Michael Pettit was still spotted solid run support.

He didn’t need much, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits, a walk and four strikeouts in 5⅓ innngs. Essenburg said he and Pettit worked on his curveball earlier in the week – work that was evident on Thursday.

“I was helping him with his curveball earlier in the week and it definitely showed,” Essenburg said. “He was definitely able to throw that for strikes today and I was proud of him. He did a great job today on both sides; he swung it well today too.”

The Boilers were poised for a big fifth inning, opening it with three straight singles from Jace Boudreau, Kason Bynum and Freitas. But on Freitas’ knock to left field, West left fielder Peyton Grobke delivered a missile to catcher Owen Weber, who delivered a tag on Boudreau as he slid in.

The Boilers were able to get a run to cut it to 4-2 on Mason Shaul’s groundout later in the inning, but Warriors head coach Jake Zajc knew that damage could have been much larger had it not been for Grobke’s dart.

“I was actually looking for us to keep the guy from going to second to third, and then when it went through, a great throw by Payton and a great catch and tag by Owen Weber,” Zajc said. “Just a huge momentum turn. That was probably the pivotal point of the game there, so that was awesome.”

Sam Frey’s sacrifice fly brought Ellis Johnson home to narrow the deficit to 4-3, but the Warriors once again responded when Ian Hazelip’s single and Essenburg’s bases-loaded walk brought home a pair to give reliever Anthony Vita a little breathing room before closing things off.

While their comeback bid was denied Thursday, Boilers coach Brad Schweigert saw the same fight he saw in Monday’s late-game victory, a quality he’s confident can help them out down the stretch.

“We’re just a gritty team,” Schweigert said. “We know we’re not gonna give up on ourselves. We know we can keep putting up runs and just have a never-say-die mentality.”

Essenburg finished the day 2 for 3 with a home run, two RBIs and two walks. Vita had an RBI triple, walked and allowed a hit in 1⅔ scoreless innings of relief.

Kason Bynum went 4 for 4 with a run to tally half of the Boilers’ eight hits. Martin’s final line read four runs (one earned) on three hits and six walks in four-plus innings.