Neuqua Valley 11, Plainfield South 1
The Neuqua Valley Wildcats began the 2008 playoffs by doing what they do best -- winning.
The defending state champions took to the field Wednesday afternoon, officially beginning their postseason with an 11-1, six-inning romp over Plainfield South in the Naperville North class 4A regional semifinal.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, Neuqua Valley got on track, scoring twice in the second and once in the third to take a 3-1 lead.
The hard-hitting Wildcats busted the game wide open in the fourth inning, though, scoring six times on four hits -- two of which left the yard.
After Jordan Williamson and Travis Weldon reached base in the bottom of the fourth, catcher Geoff Rowan launched his sixth home run of the year over the center-field fence, putting Neuqua Valley ahead 6-1.
"(He) hung a curveball for me. I wanted to hit the ball hard, but once I saw that thing hanging up there I was just like, 'All right, wait back and go get it,' " Rowan said. "I'm just trying to hit line drives, but if I can get it up there, that's fine with me."
Two batters later, left fielder Jason David popped his 11th long ball of the year, a screaming liner that nailed the scoreboard in left field.
In addition to his 4-RBI day at the plate, Rowan had the best seat in the house to observe Neuqua Valley starter Ian Krol, who surrendered just four hits in five innings of work.
"(Krol was) probably medium today, in terms of his best. He's always effective; he's going to hit his spots," Rowan said. "He hit his spots real well today, especially getting inside."
Despite squaring off against the 17th-seeded Cougars, Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner had his first-seeded Wildcats focused and ready to go.
"The nerves and the butterflies are the same as if it were a Saturday, the state tournament, or whatever," Renner said. "They're all important games, because you know if you hiccup here or there, it's over."
Plainfield South coach Paul Raspolich waited until game time to inform starting pitcher Nick Manetti he'd be pitching, giving the 14-year-old freshman the opportunity to face the defending state champions.
"When they gave up the game ball, we gave it to Nick, and that's when he found out," Raspolich said. "His first reaction was, 'Yes!' "
Wednesday's win vaults the Wildcats into the regional final, where they await the winner of today's game between DuPage Valley Conference rivals Naperville Central and Naperville North.
-- Matthew McClarey
St. Charles North 2, Glenbard North 1:ŒSt. Charles North senior pitcher Danny Jimenez walked out to the mound for his seventh inning of work at the Class AA Elk Grove regional against Glenbard North.
Already having struck out 11 batters, Jimenez still found himself in a 1-1 ballgame, needing three more outs to give his team a chance for the win in the bottom half of the inning.
"I just wanted to get us back in the dugout with a chance to win the game," Jimenez said of his final inning of work. "I knew we could get that last push and come through in one of the innings."
So what does an ace like Jimenez do in that situation with the season on the line? Simple. He continues to do what he has been doing all day: striking out batters.
Jimenez (8-1) mowed down two more for a total of 13 strikeouts on the day. After getting shortstop Austin Safranski to ground out, all he could do was watch from the dugout and hope his team picked him up with the winning run like he had predicted.
Glenbard North catcher Alex Mullendore cracked a Jimenez fastball over the left-center fence for a solo home run.
Glenbard North, which came into Wednesday regional semis having won its last 12 games, exhibited why it has been successful as of late.
"This is a tough game to lose obviously, but coming from where we were (early in the season) is phenomenal," Panthers coach Mike Franzen said.
"Our players have to hold their heads up. We were the best kept secret in DuPage County."
-- Dan Hyman
WW South 4, Downers South 3:ŒThe 15th-seeded Tigers (14-16) stunned the No. 2 Mustangs (28-8) to advance into the Class 4A Benet regional final. Dustin Quattrocchi (5-1) was the complete-game winning pitcher. He and Nick Brown each had 2 hits, a home run and 2 RBI. Jared Culver homered twice and drove in all 3 runs for Downers South.
Wheaton North 3, Glenbard East 0:ŒJack DeAno (6-1) fired a 5-hitter as the second-seeded Falcons (20-13) advanced to the Class 4A Wheaton North regional final. DeAno also had 3 hits while Ryan Javech drove in 2 runs.
Montini 10, Fenton 0:ŒThe fifth-seeded Broncos (18-7) rolled in five innings thanks to an 8-run fourth inning in the Class 3A Glenbard South regional semifinals. Winning pitcher Sean Keeley (4-1) allowed 2 hits. Andrew Brauer blasted his 10th home run of the season while Sean Cahill went 3-for-3.
Softball
Benet 8, Hinsdale South 4:ŒThere always seems to be an inning that looms large in a softball game, and for Benet and Hinsdale South that inning was the fourth.
The Redwings scored 5 runs in the fourth, spearheaded by a 3-run double off the bat of Laura Canulli in an eventual 8-4 win over the Hornets in a Class 4A regional semifinal game hosted by Hinsdale Central.
The shortstop was exceptional in the field all day but was happiest with the way she swung the bat.
"I've been struggling a little hitting, popping things up a lot lately. I just told myself I was going to hit the first pitch, and I was really relaxed," Canulli said of her hard-hit shot over the left fielder's head.
"It was a two-out hit, and it was huge," said Benet coach Jerry Schilf. "It gave us some breathing room."
Ninth-seeded Benet will play top-seeded Plainfield Central on Saturday in Hinsdale, with a Class 4A regional title on the line.
Benet pitcher Meghan Eastman gutted out an 8-hit day on the mound in going the distance, helping Benet to its 21st win of the season.
The Redwings' win also avenged a 10-2 loss to the Hornets suffered on April 17.
"(Hinsdale South) hit Megan pretty good in that first game, but today we made some plays and were more helpful for her," Schilf said.
Benet scored twice in the second inning on a pair of RBI hits by Kelsey Gallo and Christina Jablonski. The Hornets tied the game in the third on a 2-RBI single by Kristy Brewer.
The Redwings' big fourth inning featured singles from Lindsey Rohan and Kelsey Wirth, and another RBI single from Gallo. After Canulli's double made it 7-2, the Hornets' Amy Narotsky took over pitching duties and held Benet to a single hit from there.
"She's only a freshman, and she came in and did a fantastic job," said Hornets coach Carrie Nelson, who guided this year's squad to its first share of the West Suburban Gold title in 11 years.
"Benet hit the ball very hard. We only have six seniors, so we'll be back and we'll be competitive next year."
Benet scored one more run in the sixth inning before the Hornets put two on the board in the bottom of the inning. The Hornets' Michelle Bolos singled to set up a 2-run home run by Kelly Payne that ended the day's scoring.
"We had some big two-out hits, our catcher (Wirth) stole a big base today and scored on a hit, and the girls were clutch," Schilf said.
"Before the game, we stressed jumping on them early," Canulli said. "In between innings, Mr. Schilf emphasized getting runs back, and more.
"Everyone was hyped for this game."
-- Gary Larsen
West Chicago 3, York 0: Mary Connolly (21-6) struck out 12 and Megan Scott hit her second homer of the year for the Wildcats (22-8) at the Class 4A Geneva regional.
Downers Grove North 1, West Aurora 0: Missy Weiss singled in Anneliese Jagielo with two out in the first, and Kendall Ryndak (9-6) took it from there with a 3-hit shutout for the Trojans (15-14) at the Class 4A West Aurora regional.
WW South 1, Naperville North 0: Virginia McAndrews (11-8) fired a 3-hit shutout for the Tigers at the Class 4A Lockport regional.
Plainfield South 3, Neuqua Valley 1: Katie Wido went 2-for-2 with an RBI, but it wasn't enough for the host Wildcats (18-13) at the Class 4A Neuqua Valley regional.
Boys volleyball
WW South d. St. Charles North:ŒRob Samp of Wheaton Warrenville South missed a week of volleyball practice recently due to a back injury, but he took the opportunity to work on his serve.
On Wednesday Samp put away 7 aces to set the tone for the Tigers to dominate visiting St. Charles North 25-13, 25-17 to win the Wheaton Warrenville South regional championship.
While I was out, all I did was focus on my serving," Samp said. "It's all about having the confidence that you're going to serve well and then hitting it with a flat hand to get it to float. With my back brace, I was able to keep my posture and keep everything in line, so I just had to concentrate on my hand."
The first time Samp stepped up to serve, he produced a 5-point run, including 3 aces, that gave the Tigers (30-7) a 7-2 lead and put the North Stars on their heels.
Later in the game, with Samp serving, the Tigers went on a 7-point run and expanded the lead to 22-10 to close the deal.
In Game 2 Joe Kelly and Eric Hardek got into the act, spearheading 7- and 4-point runs, respectively, with each putting down an ace for a point. That gave the Tigers a 15-8 lead and just about clinched the Tigers' regional title.
"The whole game starts with the first pass," Kelly said. "If you get a good serve and they're not getting the first pass off, their offense is in complete disarray. Our serving put them out of their system."
Kelly believed that the match was also one of the Tigers' best blocking performances of the year.
"We were really penetrating on the blocks tonight, especially Eric Hardek," Kelly said. "We've been working on penetrating in practice. This was the most fun we've had because we were pushing and pushing and pushing."
Coach Bill Schreier agreed that Wednesday's win ranks up with the best matches of the year.
"Our ball control was fabulous," Schreier said. "We did a great job of getting hands on their attack and slowing them down at the point of attack. We did a good job of executing. We came out and we did what we had to do on our side of the net."
Hardek led the Tigers with 6 kills and 9 digs, while Kelly was good for 17 assists. Brian Williams had 8 digs and Neal Whittington had 5 kills and 3 blocks.
Brad Mitchell, the coach of St. Charles North (23-13), thought the match was the worst his team has played against a good team all year.
"They were serving tough and we didn't respond," Mitchell said. "And once that breaks down, nothing else can go right. You could tell we were playing scared. They're a good team and we had to play our best, and we didn't."
Rusty Lavaja led the North Stars with 5 kills, and Kegan Haeseli had 4 digs, 2 kills and 9 assists.
-- Neil Shalin