Calmly, Naperville Central clinches DuPage Valley title

It's not like Naperville Central's baseball team yawned its way through the DuPage Valley Conference.

Suffice it to say, though, that the Redhawks methodically took the drama out of the race.

Behind a 4-hitter by junior lefty Dan Ludwig, Naperville Central clinched the outright DVC title on Monday with a 1-0 victory over visiting Glenbard North.

The lone run in a pitchers' duel between Ludwig (5-0) and fellow junior Andrew Bergmann (7-4) came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Conor Philbin singled, moved to second on a groundout and scored on Matt Cmiel's RBI single to left field.

"I'm proud of our guys, I think they've had a good approach all the way through this conference season," said Redhawks coach Bill Seiple. "I'm pleased with it, but we want to be good the rest of the week, too."

With an 18-1 record in the conference, Naperville Central (27-4) has played with focused dominance. The Redhawks' lone loss has been to Naperville North, but that came after they swept the Huskies in a doubleheader to seize command atop the standings.

With Naperville Central wrapping up at least a share of the title with Friday's win over West Chicago, this season marks one of the few times in recent years the DVC race didn't come down to the final series.

"Ever since the beginning of the year we've just been cruising on a good streak of wins," said Ludwig, who struck out six and walked one. "I don't mind that it hasn't been dramatic. I can live with a quick, decisive DVC."

Naperville Central has had its tense moments throughout the DVC season, including a three-game sweep over Wheaton North by a total of 5 runs. Monday's pitchers' duel was another tense moment.

Each team had chances to break through. Naperville Central loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth and Glenbard North (19-12, 11-8) did the same in the top of the sixth, but neither team could score.

Of the Panthers' seven baserunners, four were stranded in scoring position including a runner on third in the seventh inning. Like Ludwig, Bergmann allowed 4 hits, notched 5 strikeouts and walked one in 6 innings.

"(Bergmann) threw well, and so did Ludwig," said Glenbard North coach Rich Smelko. "Unfortunately they came up with the big hit and we didn't. We had our chances throughout the game."