Huskies hang tough in DVC
Gray hairs are more abundant and fingernails are far shorter, but the fact remains.
This has been one heck of a cross-town series.
In the second straight day of extra-inning baseball, Naperville North rallied for Tuesday's 5-4 eight-inning win over visiting Naperville Central.
The Huskies (22-7, 15-5) trailed 4-3 after Naperville Central scored in the top of the eighth on Marc Mantucca's sacrifice fly. With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the eighth, Naperville North junior Paul Bloodgood singled home the tying and winning runs.
Combined with Wheaton North's 11-1 win over Wheaton Warrenville South, however, Wheaton North has clinched a share of the DuPage Valley Conference title.
The Falcons can claim the outright title with a win on Wednesday. If they lose to WW South, Naperville North can grab a share of the crown by beating the Redhawks (20-12, 14-6) Thursday at North Central College.
Like last year - when Wheaton North, the Huskies and Glenbard North shared the DVC title - the race is coming down to the very end. Tuesday's game came on the heels of Monday's 4-3 nine-inning win by Naperville Central when the Redhawks rallied from a 3-0 deficit.
"It was the same thing as yesterday, we just didn't want another loss," said Bloodgood, who went 3-for-4. "I just went up there with an aggressive mindset and jumped on the first pitch."
Like Monday's game, Naperville North jumped to an early lead by scoring 3 runs in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Alex Helms and a 2-run double by Nick Laskowsky.
Redhawks starter Pat Kaminska (4-2) settled down after that and pitched six scoreless innings before surrendering the 2 eighth-inning runs. Naperville North starter Wes Torrez dominated for four innings, but then Naperville Central clawed back.
Kaminska's leadoff double in the fifth led to Anthony Lopez' RBI groundout. Mantucca sailed his first sacrifice fly in the sixth as the Redhawks pulled within 3-2. An errant pickoff throw allowed the tying run to score.
"I'm disappointed, but we competed," said Redhawks coach Bill Seiple. "This is what we do this for. I'm an old man and my heart's beating 120 miles an hour. This is fun. We work all spring long to put ourselves in a situation where we get to play in a championship situation."
Torrez got a no-decision despite 7 strong innings. Kyle Klosek (3-3) pitched the eighth inning to notch the win.
"This was huge for us, just for our mental state," said Huskies coach Carl Hunckler. "If we would have lost two in extra innings after having a 3-0 lead in both of those games, that would have been pretty tough on our kids."