Sectional crown fits Neuqua Valley
One fact emerged from the loaded Class 4A Neuqua Valley baseball sectional -- the fittest survived.
The defending state champion and host Wildcats won their second straight sectional title, third in program history, with Saturday's 9-4 victory over Lockport in Naperville.
Neuqua Valley (31-6) advances to the University of Illinois supersectional at 7 p.m. Monday in Urbana to face Collinsville with a state semifinal berth on the line.
The Wildcats' bats -- overshadowed by their tremendous pitching throughout much of the season -- came alive again while facing the third-seeded Porters (22-10), who used four pitchers.
Jason David's 2-run first-inning single spotted starting pitcher Geoff Rowan (5-1) to a 2-0 lead. When Neuqua Valley burst ahead 8-0 with a 6-run fourth inning, the Wildcats felt more comfortable than they had in a long time while competing in perhaps the toughest sectional in the state.
"I feel like I've been drug through a knot hole," said Wildcats coach Robin Renner. "To have to beat Naperville North, Lincoln-Way East and Lockport, it's amazing."
In the opening innings against Lockport, the most amazing thing was Neuqua Valley's performance. Rowan was perfect on the mound through four innings while the bats padded the lead in the bottom of the fourth.
"All year long we've hit the ball well," David said. "And in a game like this, I think most of our guys like it when we face good pitching."
Rowan, who went 3-for-3, doubled home 2 runs in the fourth and Brian McNabb drove him in with a double. An error and a sacrifice fly by Ryan Wagner brought home another run and Jordan Williamson capped the scoring with a 2-run single as 12 batters came to the plate.
"It was great," Rowan said. "When we come out and hit the ball, that's just what we want. Everyone was hitting the ball top to bottom. There's no weak links."
Lockport rallied with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth inning, and then put Rowan in a sixth-inning jam. Reliever Mike McKinley came in at that point and escaped the sixth with 2 runs scoring.
Rowan allowed 2 hits, struck out six and walked two in 5½ innings. McKinley pitched the final 1¿ innings, allowing a hit and striking out one.
Krol, who hasn't lost since his first outing against St. Charles North on April 15, is slated to pitch Monday's game at the University of Illinois. He'll take a 7-1 record, a 1.08 ERA and 88 strikeouts into the matchup.
"We've got Geoff and Ian, two of the best pitchers in the state, I think," McKinley said. "I like being the closer out there. Getting the last out of the game feels real good."