Baseball: Neuqua Valley coach Renner wins 500th game
Neuqua Valley baseball coach Robin Renner notched his 500th career victory on Wednesday.
Which means for the 500th time Renner deflected any credit for success away from himself.
The Wildcats rolled to a 12-2 five-inning victory over Lake Park in Naperville to clinch at least a share of their second straight DuPage Valley Conference title with five games still to play.
It also gave Renner and the program another milestone moment.
"It means I've definitely been in the right place at the right time," Renner said. "We've just had so many great players come through. And I've worked with so many great coaches. And there have been so many great families that have been unbelievably supportive. It's hard to take any of the credit."
Renner was Neuqua Valley's coach when it began varsity play in 1999. That averages out to 25 wins a season during a two-decade stretch highlighted by the 2007 Class AA title and two top-four finishes in Class 4A.
"Five hundred wins is insane," said Warriors senior outfielder Evan Ranneklev. "He's a great coach. He definitely deserves it. I'm happy to be on a team that's a part of it."
Wednesday's game almost didn't happen because of an hourlong lightning delay at the start and a 10-minute rain delay early in the game.
Lake Park (13-12, 10-9) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Paul Beverly's sacrifice fly, but after that the game belonged to Neuqua Valley.
A wild pitch in the bottom of the first tied it, and then the Wildcats sent 11 batters to the plate in the third inning while building an 8-1 lead. Neuqua Valley (24-1, 18-1) added 4 runs in the fourth inning.
Ranneklev went 2-for-3 with a 2-run homer. Ryan Wheeler singled in 2 runs while Nick Taylor and Noah Herdman had run-scoring hits. Trevor Tesmond and Jake Wenz added 2 RBI apiece. Jack Rigoni doubled and tripled.
The Lancers nearly extended the game after pulling within 12-2 on Rory Marino's fifth-inning RBI single, but winning pitcher Andrew Churchman stranded runners at second and third to end the game.
"I'm proud of (Renner) and what he's done with that program and those players," said Lake Park coach Dan Colucci. "As far as the game, we just gave them too many opportunities. You've got to play clean baseball against a team like that, and we didn't do it."
Renner is retiring as a physical education teacher at the end of the school year, which will allow plenty of time to reflect on the many milestones through the seasons.
"From the very beginning we've had great talent," he said. "I've just been lucky to be a part of it."
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