Naperville Central's 'pups' play like veterans

Young doesn't necessarily mean timid.

Naperville Central's "pups" -- as coach Bill Seiple likes to call his baseball players -- came through in the clutch Wednesday as the host Redhawks rallied for a 4-2 nonconference victory over Waubonsie Valley.

Naperville Central (1-1) trailed 2-0 in the third inning but then scored all its runs with two outs. A 3-run bottom of the fourth inning put the Redhawks ahead to stay.

After Nick Linne's RBI single tied the game 2-2, Mike Oles launched the ball to deep center field for an RBI double and a 3-2 lead. An error boosted the lead to 4-2, which turned out to be enough of a margin for the Redhawks relievers and a defense that settled down.

Only four seniors took the field for the Redhawks, but the young group still got the job done when it mattered most.

"We like these 4-2 games, the close ones," said Oles, a junior. "We've got a lot of young guys who can play and step up."

For Waubonsie Valley (0-1) the outcome came down to missed opportunities. The Warriors stranded 11 runners, including six in scoring position. They left the bases loaded in the sixth inning.

The Redhawks' Andy Pucher, winning pitcher Clint Woods and sophomore Marc Mantucca, who earned the save, combined for 10 strikeouts. Six of them ended innings.

The Warriors went down in order only once, but it was Mantucca's 1-2-3 seventh inning. After a diving defensive play by sophomore second baseman Matt Soria, Mantucca ended the game with a pair of strikeouts.

"It's more the mental aspect today for us," said Warriors coach Dan Fezzuoglio. "We've got to be able to move the ball a lot better, especially with runners in scoring position. We need to do a better job of executing."

Waubonsie Valley went ahead 2-0 in the top of the third when Johnny Strauss scored on a wild pitch and Adam Leroy drove in Trevor Romeo with an RBI single.

Naperville Central pulled within 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on Soria's run-scoring single.

Woods (1-0) pitched 3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win, striking out four, scattering 3 hits and walking one.

"We're playing some pups," Seiple said. "We're going to ride the ups and downs with it. We know we're going to deal with this for a little bit, but I'm excited."