WW South snaps Huskies' win streak at 10
One way or the other, Wheaton Warrenville South's baseball team will have a say in determining the DuPage Valley Conference champion.
With their final six DVC games coming against the two teams topping the standings, the Tigers (16-10, 10-7) have a tremendous opportunity to play the role of spoiler.
They did their part on Tuesday with a 6-3 victory over Naperville North in Wheaton, snapping the Huskies' 10-game winning streak and pushing them a game behind first-place Wheaton North, which beat Glenbard East 8-0.
Today the Tigers finish their three-game series with Naperville North. Next week the DVC season closes with rivalry week as WW South faces Wheaton North and Naperville North plays Naperville Central.
Like many past seasons, the champion likely won't be decided until the final day.
"This is a great opportunity for us to play the spoiler," said Tigers coach Tim Brylka. "This is the end of the year and we want to see if we've gotten better throughout the year. Hopefully, we're playing better now than when we first started back in March."
Naperville North (20-6, 13-4) spotted Evansville-bound ace Jake Naumann (7-2) to a 3-0 lead in the second inning when Scott Kubo tripled home a run, Dan Grimley drove in another with an infield single and Alex Khoury lofted a sacrifice fly.
That was the lone struggle for WW South starter Robert Grabek (4-2), who allowed only 1 hit over the next four innings while facing one batter over the minimum. Grabek needed only 64 pitches to get through six innings.
After Grabek walked the leadoff man in the seventh, Steve Smith relieved him and retired the next three batters to earn his second save.
"My first couple of innings were a little shaky," Grabek said. "A big key, after we put up a three-spot in the third inning, was to get a shutout the next inning, and I did. And I just got more confidence built upon that."
The Tigers scored their first run on Jon O'Neil's second-inning RBI single. They took a 4-3 lead in the third behind Taylor Rhoades' RBI double, Neil Johnston's run-scoring infield single and an error.
Rhoades laced his second double of the game in the sixth, scoring a pair of runs to give WW South its 6-3 lead.
"The mindset is you take one game at a time," said Huskies coach Carl Hunckler. "I know it's an old cliché, but you don't look forward to anything else. Our approach tomorrow will be tomorrow's game only, and we'll see how that goes."
BOX SCORE
Wheaton Warrenville South 6, Naperville North 3
Naperville North 030 000 0 -3-5-3
WW South 013 002 X -6-10-1
2B: WWS: Rhoades 2; 3B: NN: Kubo
WP: Grabek (4-2) LP: Naumann (7-2); SV: Smith (2).