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Baseball: Plainfield North ends Neuqua Valley's season

Josh Heckman fundamentally altered Saturday afternoon's baseball sectional final with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the second inning in Joliet.

The Plainfield North senior, one of multiple college-bound players for the nationally ranked Tigers, had a 3-run double as part of a 5-run Plainfield North outburst against Neuqua Valley.

The Wildcats had their postseason come to a close in the Class 4A Oswego championship game - moved to Joliet Junior College due to weather conditions - in an 11-3 defeat.

Top-seeded Plainfield North (32-3) will face St. Laurence in an Elite Eight contest on Monday evening after ending the sixth-seeded Wildcats' season at 24-14.

"It's very difficult to win games in the (state) tournament," Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner said. "We won three. I give the guys credit for that. We finished tied for third or fourth in (the DuPage Valley Conference); we're the last one standing."

Heckman unloaded the bases with a drive to the left-center field fence in the bottom of the second to drive in the first 3 runs of the game.

"I had a fastball in the right spot at the right time," Heckman said. "I was looking for a fastball, got it and hit it. Basically, our whole lineup can hit."

To make matters harder on Neuqua Valley, the Wildcats' batters had to face Arizona State recruit and Plainfield North starter Brady Corrigan.

"He didn't give me anything to hit," said Neuqua Valley senior Kevin Ringlein, who had a run-scoring double down the left-field line in the Wildcats' fourth inning.

But the Wildcats showcased a resiliency worthy of a sectional finalist. Tyler Cristofaro drove home Ringlein on a groundout to reduce the Plainfield North lead to 5-2.

"(The Plainfield North second inning) was a real shock to us," Ringlein said. "We kept our heads in it. Today just wasn't our day. It really showed on the scoreboard today. We made too many errors. We didn't pitch well and we didn't hit well in the at-bats that we needed to."

Plainfield North scored multiple runs on three occasions.

Neuqua Valley had a pair of errors in each of the Tigers' big innings.

"We're pretty darn good when we play clean," Renner said. "And when we don't, this happens. We just didn't play well enough against a very good team. I wish them the best."

Will Drake scored the Wildcats' final run of the season on a bases-loaded error in the top of the sixth inning.

But Plainfield North reliever Connor Peplow terminated the threat moments later.

"(Corrigan) was good, and the guy (Peplow) they brought in was just as good," Renner said.

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