Two sports keep Lyons’ Booth busy

Updated: June 29, 2011 9:26PM

On the football field or diamond, Evan Booth has been part of some pretty successful teams at Lyons the past year.

Eventually, it will slowly sink for the senior from La Grange that repeating last season could be very difficult.

Booth belonged to the schools’ first 10-win football team, which tied for first in the West Suburban Silver and reached the Class 8A state quarterfinals before losing to Mount Carmel.

In baseball, Booth is still celebrating Lyons’ Class 4A state championship. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound second baseman appeared in the championship game as a pinch-runner in the sixth inning.

“I’m still kind of on Cloud 9,” Booth said. “It’s crazy. It has not set in. I will miss the guys on the team. It’s hard not seeing (the former seniors) in the dugout. I know it’s over.”

Booth, a former reserve, is now a starter for Lyons’s baseball team and batted seventh in a summer league loss to Downers North June 27. He went 1-for-3 with two strikeouts.

The next day, Booth was playing wide receiver and defensive back as the football team competed in the first West Suburban Conference 7-on-7 passing tournament at Addison Trial. Ten of the conference’s 14 teams are scheduled to return for a second day in the tournament Thursday.

“I loved (the tournament),” Booth said. “Football is my favorite sport. I love being on the team. I love everything about it.”

The first day of the West Suburban tournament was Lyons’ first 7-on-7 session of the summer. Lyons coach Kurt Weinberg enjoys 7-on-7s, which is why the team competed in three 7-on-7s in three consecutive days with another event at Nazareth on Wednesday.

“It’s a good way to get a little competition and compete within the team,” Weinberg said. “The competition and speed of the offense is more like game speed. There is more speed than in practice. This is faster.”

Weinberg started his third week of summer football workouts this week. Even Weinberg was impressed by the first day of the West Suburban 7-on-7, which could use more space to make sure no teams have a bye during the 7-on-7 games. Also, the tournament did not include every team in the conference.

“I think we’ll expand as we go. We have a great conference and it’s nice to get out there and work together,” Weinberg said.

For the last time of his career, Booth is trying to survive the balancing act between baseball and football this summer.

“It’s really tough. I go to football from 6:30 to 11:30 in the morning, come home, eat and sleep for half an hour,” Booth said. “Then I’m out the door to baseball.”

Lyons has seven remaining summer league baseball games in July. Three of those dates include split-squad games. The summer league playoffs beginning July 18.

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