Naperville Central makes it 2 in a row vs. Wheaton North

Naperville Central accomplished something no one else had done all baseball season.

Not once, but twice.

The Redhawks beat previously unbeaten Wheaton North for the second straight day on Saturday, taking two out of three from the visiting Falcons with an 8-2 DuPage Valley Conference victory.

An up-and-down campaign still needs consistency, but Saturday's effort - with seven juniors and sophomore pitcher Dan Ludwig (5-1) leading the way - shows the Redhawks' potential as they head toward the playoffs.

The timing for the big victory couldn't have been better. Before the game Redhawks pitching coach Phil Lawler had his No. 29 jersey retired in a ceremony honoring the hall of famer's decades of service to the baseball program.

"This just shows what we can do," said junior first baseman Bobby Czarnowski, who went 3-for-3. "Going into the season we had pretty high hopes and lost a lot of close games. Beating this team shows we can play to our potential."

Naperville Central's 5-run third inning shot the Redhawks (16-11, 10-5) to a 6-1 lead. Only 1 run was earned off Falcons starter Jack DeAno (5-1) in 5 innings pitched.

Two errors drove in runs and Marc Mantucca singled home another in the third. Czarnowski's 2-run homer to right broke open the game.

Wheaton North (20-2, 13-2), which got its first run on Jack Quinn's second-inning RBI single, narrowed the gap to 6-2 in the fifth after two errors and Jeff Schalk's sacrifice fly. Naperville Central, however, padded its lead with 2 runs in the sixth on RBI singles from Nick Linne and Matt Soria.

"It seemed like any extra opportunity, Naperville Central capitalized on," said Falcons coach Dan Schoessling, who added he's hopeful Trey Martin (5-0) will return to the mound soon from a mild arm issue. "We can't make any excuses, we just didn't get it done the last two days."

Ludwig, meanwhile, was superb in notching another DVC win. The sophomore lefty scattered 6 hits, none in the final three innings of a complete-game effort.

"At the beginning I was pretty nervous but once I got warmed up and settled in, I felt a little better," Ludwig said. "I'm a sophomore playing varsity, and I'm just here to do my best. I'm surprised to be where I'm at right now."

BOX SCORE

Naperville Central 8, Wheaton North 2

Wheaton North 010 010 0 -2-6-3

Naperville Central 105 002 X -8-10-2

2B: NC: Lucas, Lopez.

HR: NC: Czarnowski.

WP: Dan Ludwig (5-1); LP: DeAno (5-1).