Naperville North opens DVC action in style

It took about a week for Naperville North's baseball team to raise its batting average 70 points to a collective .350.

It didn't drop a bit Monday.

Peppering 11 hits throughout its lineup, Naperville North opened DuPage Valley Conference play with an 8-3 win over Glenbard North in Carol Stream.

Huskies starting pitcher Kyle Klosek (2-1) appreciated the offensive support, but he had the game pretty well under control regardless. He pitched 5 shutout innings before surrendering 3 runs in the sixth, his final inning.

"The lead just kept adding up, and that gave me the confidence to go out and throw strikes the whole time," said Klosek, who scattered 7 hits, struck out seven and walked none. "I was kind of excited with the start of conference. I was actually feeling a little sick, but a win makes you feel a lot better."

Glenbard North (7-4, 0-1) starter Andrew Bergmann (3-2) nearly escaped a 4-run second inning with only 1 run scoring on Andrew Arenson's solo homer. A two-out error, however, opened the door for RBI singles by the Huskies' Idris Hanidu and Charlie White. A wild pitch scored the fourth run.

The Huskies (8-1, 1-0) tacked on a pair of fourth-inning runs on Jack Krejci's 2-run homer. Mariano Long doubled in a run in the fifth and White, who went 3-for-4, capped the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the sixth to put Naperville North ahead 8-0.

Klosek, meanwhile, allowed only 3 hits through 5 innings.

"When you're facing a pitcher like they had out there, it's tough to come back on them," said Glenbard North coach Rich Smelko. "It's good to see that the guys didn't give up, they kept battling. A little too late there, obviously, but it's good to see that at least we started hitting the ball a little harder there in the later innings."

Glenbard North broke through in the bottom of the sixth on Dave Wolak's 2-run homer, which was followed by Chris Caliva's solo shot. Huskies reliever Trevor Hall pitched a scoreless seventh inning to close out the win.

"It's a great win, a great start to the conference for us," said Naperville North coach Carl Hunckler. "Knowing the competition we were going to face, we're very pleased to come out of here with a win."