Naperville North’s a hit at Glenbard East
Dinner came early Monday afternoon in Lombard as a buffet of baseball offense was served.
A heaping plate of singles, doubles and triples was served fresh from the field for 20 hits total as the sound of bat meeting baseball sang regularly through the 7 innings.
Going back for seconds was the key to Naperville North winning 12-6. The Huskies finished with 12 hits resulting in three big innings that were the difference.
Life these days is very good for the victors, who won for a seventh straight time to ascend above the .500 mark at 12-11 while improving to 6-4 in the DuPage Valley Conference.
“The kids have great confidence right now and believe in one another,” said Naperville North coach Carl Hunckler.
The contest at first appeared that it might make for a short afternoon as the Huskies put the Rams (12-11, 4-6) on the ropes in the top of the first, scoring 5 runs on 3 hits with a fielding error bring home one of the runs.
The big blasts that frame came from Alex Moss, whose first 2 of 3 RBI came on a 2-run double to center, and Mariano Long’s RBI double.
Moss believes his team’s performance against Neuqua Valley on April 14 got some needed momentum rolling.
“Coming back against Neuqua Valley (in a 6-5 loss) was a big turning point. That team is good and has depth,” he said.
The Huskies then took two of three from Wheaton Warrenville South, swept a doubleheader against Oswego East and then swept West Chicago.
Glenbard East got back on its feet quickly in the first, scoring its first run as leadoff hitter as Danny Ryan singled to right and later scored on a wild pitch. The Rams then managed to take control of the game.
Ryan’s double to left-center in the second and Joe Kotch’s sacrifice fly made it a 5-3 game. In the third, Greg Ludwig’s one-out, 2-run triple to right and a fielding error by North helped put Glenbard East up 6-5.
It was a short-lived advantage as Naperville North scored 3 in the fourth to take the lead for good.
Conner Adamski’s double to left, a fielding error and a wild pitch helped bring the runs home.
Naperville North kept it going in the fifth with 4 runs aided by RBI basehits from Long and Moss and two fielding errors by the Rams.
“The kids understand pretty good two-strike hitting and feel pretty good what to expect in certain situations,” Hunckler said.
Long was the winning pitcher for the Huskies. He went 62⁄3 innings and struck out eight, including the side in the fourth.
As for Glenbard East, coach Joel Pelland said his team’s ability on offense simply wasn’t enough.
“We’ve been too inconsistent up to this point,” he said. “We’ve hit the ball well at many times this season. But today we made way too many mistakes on the mound and defensively to come out with the win.”
Center fielder Kotch was a bright spot defensively, however, for the Rams making a diving catch and a leaping catch at the 375-foot sign to rob Naperville North of two sure extra-base hits.
“Joe has some of the best reads off of batters of any center fielder I’ve seen. He has a special knack,” Pelland said.
The series continues at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Naperville North.
“This is a lot better than a losing streak,” Moss said. “We’re finally playing to our potential. We’re playing happy, excited. We like being at the park and that was not the case at the beginning.”