Venchus, Willowbrook deliver under pressure

A pitcher in command of his breaking ball can go a long way.

Senior right-hander Zac Venchus took Willowbrook to the Glenbard South regional semifinals of the Phil Lawler Summer Classic with his 1-0 win over Wheaton North on Tuesday.

Able to throw his curve-slider for strikes throughout seven 4-hit innings, Venchus (3-1) survived the Falcons’ seventh-inning rally to top equally adept Wheaton North righty Tom Colletti.

“It was probably one of the best curves I’ve ever thrown. I would go inside with it, I’d go outside with it. Just anywhere,” said Venchus, whose sixth-seeded Warriors (19-4) play No. 7 Naperville Central in the Glenbard South semis today at 4:30 p.m.

Venchus stranded runners in scoring position in the first, third and sixth innings. No. 3 Wheaton North (19-8) applied extreme pressure in the bottom of the seventh.

Falcons Ed Norris and Brooks Joy were on first and second with one out when Venchus got a strikeout on a high backdoor slider. Ryan Kent then rapped an infield hit to load the bases.

Enter Willowbrook right fielder Steve Ferguson.

“I told Dom (Battaglia), our center fielder, that I was real nervous,” Ferguson said. “‘You nervous?’ We both said, ‘Yep,’ and a couple pitches later there was a ball hit to me.”

Ferguson took one false step in, reversed direction, and stuck out his glove to snare Kevin Fahy’s slicing liner and preserve the win.

“We’re usually one regional win and then done, and this is kind of the next step,” said Willowbrook coach Vic Wisner. “And that was a game that we had lost in the past, this year.”

Willowbrook manufactured its only run off Colletti, who allowed 6 hits in seven innings.

With two outs in the top of the third, Battaglia and Kevin Johnson each coaxed bases on balls, then moved up when a pickoff throw got away. Battaglia scored as Tom VanKooten beat out a short topper toward third.

“Tom (Colletti) pitched a great game, definitely deserved better,” said Wheaton North coach Dan Schoessling.

“The two that I walked came around to bite me in the end,” said Colletti, a 6-foot-3, 205-pounder. “It’s hard to lose like that, 1-0. I wasn’t too mad with how I pitched, but just mad that I had one bad inning.”

Naperville Central 8, Glenbard East 1Ross Murphy#146;s 2-run home run off familiar foe Patrick Walsh produced the game-winning hit before Naperville Central (14-16) opened the floodgates with a 5-run sixth inning to eliminate the second-seeded Rams (21-5).#147;He#146;s a good pitcher, we know that,#148; said Murphy, who turned on a belt-high fastball with Kevin Linne aboard in the top of the third. #147;He diced us up earlier in the season when we played them. It feels really good to put up eight runs against a guy like that.#148;Naperville Central right-hander Sean Goblet allowed Mike Hausen#146;s second-inning RBI double then quieted the Rams until Mike Gruenthal came on for two innings of scoreless relief. Hausen and Chris Milligan each had 2 hits for Glenbard East, as did Jimmy Nashert and Jeff Schanck for the Redhawks.#147;It was hot,#148; Goblet confirmed. #147;Trying to stay cool was a little bit of a challenge.#148;