Opponents saving their aces for Neuqua
It’s been either feast or famine for Neuqua Valley’s baseball team this season.
Luckily for the Wildcats, they’ve enjoyed the feast in most games. But for a select few matchups, it’s been tough sledding at the plate.
In three of their first four Upstate Eight Conference games the Wildcats faced perhaps the league’s top three pitchers. They lost 4-1 to St. Charles East’s Wes Benjamin, then lost 8-2 to Streamwood’s Josh Harris. The next day they fell 6-1 to St. Charles North’s Phil Warner.
In those three games — all three against lefties — Neuqua Valley scored a total of 4 runs. In their other games they’ve averaged more than 9 runs.
“We’ve faced everybody’s top guy up to this point,” said Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner. “We’re going to have to beat them somewhere along the line.”
Not surprisingly, the three games against the top UEC aces cost the Wildcats their only three losses heading into the Tuesday. Renner is hoping the tough mound matchups pay off down the road as his hitters become more comfortable with top-shelf pitching.
“It’s hard to say,” Renner said. “I do know we’re more confident when we face other pitching.”
Pitching pattern:Wheaton Warrenville South#146;s pitching staff is rounding into shape.It started with Jason Schuman#146;s 3-hitter with 9 strikeouts against Palatine, and the senior#146;s 1-hitter with 12 strikeouts against Brother Rice. But then Jeremy Rhoades improved to 2-0 with a win over Glenbard East, and Parker Ryndak won a pair of games last week in his first two outings of the season.On the heels of taking two out of three games from Glenbard East, and with the bulk of the DuPage Valley Conference marathon still to come, there is plenty of hope for the Tigers with that trio of pitchers.#147;I don#146;t know if we have a No. 1, we#146;ve had all three pitch pretty well for us,#148; said WW South coach Tim Brylka. Brylka said all three pitchers have been clocked in the mid-to-upper 80s this season, headed by Ryndak#146;s consistent 86 mph fastball that topped out at 89. If they stay effective, the Tigers will overcome the inconsistency that#146;s kept them from vaulting over the .500 mark.#147;We#146;ve got to throw strikes and play defense, and we#146;ll have a chance,#148; Brylka said. #147;We#146;ll see what happens.#148;Rain checking:Of all the days of the week to get rained out, Saturday#146;s the toughest. Last Saturday#146;s rain cost an entire slate of West Suburban Conference doubleheaders to be pushed to Monday and Wednesday. Monday#146;s rainouts then pushed that game to April 25. In addition, Saturday#146;s Lisle Invitational and a round robin with Glenbard East, Willowbrook and Montini were washed out. Combined with the postponement of Monday#146;s DuPage Valley Conference schedule, suddenly there#146;s a glut of makeup games to jam into an already crowded schedule.Some teams, however, are adjusting on the fly.Benet, rained out in Saturday#146;s doubleheader against St. Viator, played the Lions on Sunday. Montini was supposed to play host to Chicago Christian but because the Broncos#146; field was too wet to play on, they played the game in Palos Heights, where not as much rain fell Sunday night. Even last week teams were shifting games on the fly. The Streamwood-Metea Valley and Downers Grove South-York games were moved from Thursday to last Wednesday because of the anticipated nicer weather the day before.