Naperville North laughs last after averting Naperville Central sweep
Naperville North's baseball team spent an entire day thinking about a dreadful Saturday against Naperville Central.
Unlike many people, the Huskies couldn't wait for Monday.
Naperville North salvaged the third and final showdown of the three-game DuPage Valley Conference cross-town series, holding on for a 12-10 win over the Redhawks at North Central College.
After building an 11-3 lead in the fifth inning, the Huskies (19-4, 9-3) kept the rallying Redhawks (20-3, 11-1) at bay.
Naperville Central scored 7 runs in the final three innings including a 4-run sixth that narrowed the gap to 11-8. The Huskies added a run on Andrew Arenson's RBI single, but the Redhawks answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Marc Mantucca laced a two-out double to bring the tying run to the plate for Naperville Central, but Huskies reliever Kyle Klosak wrapped up a four-out save by notching the game-ending strikeout. Starter Matt LaCosse pitched into the sixth inning, improving to 5-0.
The Huskies pull within 2 games of the Redhawks atop the DVC standings while Wheaton North - which faces Naperville Central in a three-game series starting Wednesday - is within a game.
"It was good that we bounced back after Saturday's losses," Huskies shortstop Alex Khoury said of the doubleheader sweep by the Redhawks. "That was a big game. It keeps us in the race for the DVC championship."
The mood, however, wasn't completely happy for the Huskies. Outfielders Bobby Daly and Mike Fattore were injured when they collided head-to-head as they both dove for a ball hit in the left-center field gap by Bobby Czarnowski, who wound up with an inside-the-park home run.
Both players were taken to the hospital in an ambulance with head injuries, although Huskies assistant coach Mark Lindo said after the game that it was a precautionary move.
Despite the scare and the lengthy delay, the Huskies did their best to stay focused in the final two innings.
"Losing two games to Central was a big blow to our team, but coming back in the third game and beating them was a big confidence booster for us," said Huskies second baseman Idris Hanidu.
Naperville North took a 4-2 lead in the second inning on RBI singles by Hanidu and Khoury, and a bases-loaded walk to Charlie White. The Huskies added 4 runs in the third inning, taking advantage of 3 errors and Jack Krejci's RBI double.
Czarnowski's run-scoring double slashed the deficit to 8-3 in the bottom of the third, but the Huskies scored once in the fourth and twice in the fifth behind Paul Bloodgood's 2-run single.
Mantucca and Mason Hallett each had RBI singles in the 4-run sixth for the Redhawks.
"There was a little hole in this game where we allowed it to get from 5-2 to 8-2, and we just made the mountain a little bit too hard to climb," said Redhawks coach Bill Seiple. "We battled, but give them credit."