Naperville Central manufactures runs
Even without swinging the bat, Naperville Central's baseball team found a way to pull away from Glenbard North.
Scoring 6 runs in the sixth inning without a hit, the Redhawks beat Glenbard North 12-3 in Friday's DuPage Valley Conference matchup at Bommers Stadium in Schaumburg.
After the Panthers (4-4, 0-2) narrowed the deficit to 6-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Naperville Central (6-1, 2-0) put the outcome to rest by getting eight straight batters on base with 6 walks and 2 hit batters. Add in Connor Gurnik's sacrifice fly, and the lead grew to a more comfortable 12-3.
"Those first couple innings we started a little bit slow, but when you put 12 runs on a team like that, it's tough to come back," Gurnik said. "Today was good for us. We were a little flat, but we were still able to get some runs."
Gurnik, Ryan Eiermann and Jack Hughes strung together run-scoring hits as Naperville Central built a 6-0 fourth-inning lead with the help of a couple of errors. The Panthers answered with Mike Wellman's 2-run single, and then came even closer when Zach Heck singled in a third run in the fifth inning.
Just when Glenbard North managed some momentum, the Redhawks seized it back in the sixth inning.
"Our backs were against the wall right from the start," said Panthers coach Rich Smelko. "Our margin for error is pretty slim to begin with, so we need to make sure we do the little things. We can't let the flood gates open like that."
Michael Oliver drove in 3 runs for Naperville Central while Tommy Carlson had 2 RBI at the top of the lineup. Nick Rietz earned the win with 5 innings of work, backed by a scoreless inning of relief by Blake McClung and Ben Rietz.
Naperville Central enters a key DVC series with Neuqua Valley (7-0, 2-0) on Saturday, a series that continues Monday and Tuesday.
"We swung the bat a little bit, but we had some good at-bats overall," said Redhawks coach Mike Stock. "Give them credit, they kept coming. But we were able to get those big innings."
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