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Baseball: Naperville Central's Eiermann shuts down Oswego

Naperville Central junior left fielder Tommy Carlsen was focused before and after his solid two-out, two-strike single to center field in the bottom of the first inning Thursday against Oswego.

When the ball was misplayed, Carlsen reached second base.

"I think it went under his glove or something," Carlsen said. "You just want to come around first pretty hard and see if anything crazy happens. And right there something crazy happened. You've just got to take advantage of it."

When senior catcher Jack Hughes followed with a run-scoring single, little did the Redhawks realize there would be only two hits the rest of the game by both teams combined.

Thanks to a sparkling 1-hitter by senior pitcher Ryan Eiermann, the Redhawks already had all they needed for a 2-0 victory in the Class 4A Hinsdale South regional semifinals in Darien.

Naperville Central (21-11), the No. 6 seed in the Oswego sectional, will play No. 3 Plainfield North at 11 a.m. Saturday in Darien for the regional title.

Eiermann (5-1) struck out 12 with no walks, one hit batter and a two-out double in the fifth by No. 11 Oswego (18-13). The left-handed Texas Christian recruit rated it among his best pitching outings this season.

"It's definitely up there, an 8 or a 9 (out of 10). I was dialed in the whole game," Eiermann said. "I really just didn't want to get off the mound. I believe that was why I was so successful because I just wanted to keep going. I just liked to compete today."

Eiermann threw 88 pitches, 69 of them for strikes. His only three-ball count turned out to be huge.

Eiermann came back to get a called-third strike on a 7-pitch count, which was followed by Dustin Wayne's two-out double - one of only two balls the Panthers got out of the infield.

"He was locked in. I'm thrilled that the strikeouts were there, but he wasn't relying on them," Naperville Central coach Mike Stock said. "He was getting weak contact. That's when I think he's at his best, when he's able to get them in swing mode and put the ball in play, but not drive the ball much."

Still, this was Eiermann's ninth outing with double-digit strikeouts and four short of his single-season high. Eleven of the strikeouts were swinging.

"I knew (from scouting reports) they were righties and they liked to bunt, but I did not know they swung as much as they did," Eiermann said.

The Redhawks put several hard balls in play but only had 3 hits off Oswego senior Cole Aughenbaugh (4-3), who struck out 3 with 2 walks.

Carlsen had two of the hits.

"All of the credit to Jack, he got me in (for the 1-0 lead)," Carlsen said.

"(That first-inning run) was huge because that just gives me confidence, gives our hitters confidence that this is going to be a good day," Eiermann added. "I didn't have to worry if they scored a run and then we're down."

Carlsen's second hit led to another unearned run in the sixth after senior shortstop Connor Gurnik led off reaching on a misplayed bunt. Carlsen doubled solidly to left-center after Gurnik moved to second on a wild pitch.

"A ball in the dirt that some kids would not have gone to second base on," Stock said. "I felt as comfortable as you can with a 1-run lead there, but I was really grateful to get that second run with Tommy (again) coming back from a two-strike count."

Plainfield North finished fourth in 4A last year and has won seven straight regional titles. On April 1 Naperville Central won 8-1 at Plainfield North with senior Tyler Brinker the winning pitcher.

"They're a really tough team," Carlsen said. "It's always fun playing those kids, growing up playing against them in travel ball. It's going to be really fun on Saturday."

  Naperville Central's Connor Gurnik slides safely into second after the as Oswego's Cody Peterlin looks on during the Hinsdale South baseball regional semifinal on May 25, 2017. The Redhawks defeated the Panthers 2-0. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Naperville Central's Tommy Carlsen round third on his way home to scores his teams first run against Oswego during the Hinsdale South baseball regional semifinal on May 25, 2017. The Redhawks defeated the Panthers 2-0. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Naperville Central's Tommy Carlsen batts during the Hinsdale South baseball regional semifinal against Oswego on May 25, 2017. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Naperville Central's Gabe Soria celebrates making the tag and final out of the game on Oswego's Cole Aughenbaugh during the Hinsdale South baseball regional semifinal on May 25, 2017. The Redhawks defeated the Panthers 2-0. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
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