Naperville Central breaks it open

Once again, Naperville Central's baseball team found a way.

The defending Class 4A champions were pushed to the limit by Hinsdale Central on Wednesday, but a sixth-inning offensive explosion helped the Redhawks claim an 8-3 victory in the Hinsdale Central regional semifinals.

Fourth-seeded Naperville Central (21-12) advances to play today's winner between Downers Grove South and Oswego East in Saturday's regional final.

“You just have to trust these guys that they'll break it open like they did,” said Redhawks ace pitcher Dan Ludwig, referring to his team's 5-run sixth-inning.

Tied with one out in the bottom of the sixth, Naperville Central seemed stuck as Red Devils starting pitcher Sam Lucente retired his 15th straight batter. Ten of the outs were on ground balls.

Suddenly, though, Naperville Central's bats got on a collective roll. Ross Murphy put his team ahead 4-3 with an RBI single, Jimmy Nashert followed with a 2-run single and Derrick Avers added an RBI single. By the time Avers scored on an error, the Redhawks had batted around and put 5 runs on the board.

With an 8-3 lead Ludwig (8-2) kicked it up a gear in the top of the seventh. He struck out the side, giving him 9 strikeouts for the game and eight in the final three innings.

“We knew someone was going to get a big hit there,” Murphy said. “We got guys on base, got guys in scoring position. It felt good. We've been hitting all season, so we knew we could get some runs.”

Pat Foley's 2-run homer put the 18th-seeded Red Devils (14-20) ahead 2-0, but Naperville Central's Jake DeVoy launched a 3-run home run in the bottom of the first to put the Redhawks ahead 3-2. Lucente helped his cause with a game-tying RBI single in the fifth inning.

“We came in knowing that this was going to be a challenge,” said Red Devils coach Justin Cronin, a Naperville Central graduate and former player for Redhawks coach Bill Seiple. “We came in knowing that we have the ability to win a baseball game like this. Unfortunately it just didn't work out for us.”

Five of Naperville Central's 7 hits had to wait until the pivotal sixth inning, but it was just in time to keep the Redhawks' state title defense alive.

“They're all tough, and you've got to do it pitch-by-pitch,” Seiple said. “You know what? You've got to survive.”