LaScala, Naperville North rely on insurance

If anyone needed a lesson on the importance of insurance runs, Sam LaScala provided textbook evidence.

While it didn't seem clutch at the time, LaScala's 2-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning proved to be the difference in Naperville North's 6-4 DuPage Valley Conference victory Tuesday over visiting Lake Park.

LaScala's homer gave the Huskies (5-6, 2-0) a 6-1 lead before Lake Park (5-4, 0-2) mounted a rally in the top of the seventh. Run-scoring hits by Michael Nielsen and James Palmer narrowed the gap to 6-4.

Lake Park loaded the bases with two outs - the first recorded by starter Matt Pillatch and the second by reliever Chris LaScala. Luke Brennan, the third pitcher of the inning, finally coaxed a popout to end the threat and the game.

"Those 2 insurance runs were huge," LaScala said. "If we don't get those, you never know what could happen there. Baseball's a game like that. You've just got to produce every inning. You've got to produce as a team."

Pillatch got himself out of jams throughout his impressive 6-plus innings. Lake Park stranded 10 runners, including eight in scoring position.

Up until the seventh-inning rally the Lancers managed only 1 run off Pillatch when Colin Fowich, who took the loss on the mound for Lake Park, doubled in Brody Thompson to tie the game at 1-1 in the third inning.

"They did a nice job adding on to their lead, but we didn't do a good job answering," said Lake Park coach Dan Colucci. "It was good to see the way we came back in the seventh inning. Our guys definitely didn't give up."

Naperville North opened the scoring in the first inning with a run on a throwing error. Mark Khoury's third-inning sacrifice fly broke a 1-1 tie and the lead grew to 4-1 in the fourth when Sam LaScala had an RBI double and later scored on another Lake Park error.

Alex Garon and LaScala had 2 hits for Naperville North, while Fowich went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and Palmer had 2 hits for Lake Park.

"We know they're all going to be like this, and we're ready for them," said Huskies coach Carl Hunckler, whose team goes for the series sweep Wednesday. "We did a lot of little things that made us look like we knew what we were doing."

Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevin_schmit