Neuqua Valley remains undefeated with rout of Waubonsie Valley
Most baseball teams dream of a lineup capable of hitting one through nine.
Neuqua Valley looks like a team capable of hitting even deeper than that.
Eight starters and two pinch hitters piled up 16 hits in the Wildcats' 11-0 victory over Waubonsie Valley in the opening game of their DuPage Valley Conference series Thursday in Aurora.
It's the sixth time this season Neuqua Valley (11-0, 5-0) put up double-digit runs on an opponent. Combined with Austin Waeghe pitching a 2-hitter with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks in front of an errorless defense, Thursday was the latest complete win for the Wildcats.
"It always helps to get runs," Waeghe said. "I know our bats are going to come, and our defense was perfect today. It's been like that the whole year for us."
Neuqua Valley scored twice in the top of the first to give Waeghe all the support he needed. The Wildcats added 3 runs in the third, 4 runs in the fourth and capped the day with 2 runs in the seventh including Trevor Tesmond's pinch-hit 2-run single.
James Gargano, Ryan Wheeler, Noah Herdman and Jack Rigoni combined for 9 hits at the top of the order. Rigoni drove in 3 runs and Eric Nelson added 2 RBI.
"Offense is obviously huge in baseball," Rigoni said. "Our depth down the lineup is really good. When you get a good start like we did, it gives the whole team a boost."
Both hits against Waeghe came in the third inning when the Warriors' Luke Gregorio, who left the game with an injury, and Jacob Vandrie led off with singles. Waeghe retired the top three hitters in the order, though, to prevent Waubonsie Valley (8-4, 4-3) from denting a 5-0 deficit.
"They're the real deal," said Warriors coach Bryan Acevedo. "We've just got to put this one behind us and move forward and look to Saturday. We didn't do anything that great, but we didn't do anything that bad. Neuqua just played really good baseball."
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