Baseball: Metea Valley’s offense comes alive vs. Neuqua to snap 9-game skid

After suffering a pair of 1-run losses in the first two games of the series, Metea Valley exploded for an 8-run fifth inning on the way to a 16-10 DuPage Valley Conference baseball triumph over Neuqua Valley (6-10, 3-3) Thursday afternoon in Aurora.

Snapping a 5-game conference losing streak, the Mustangs (5-10, 1-5) sent 12 batters to the plate in the decisive fifth inning.

Senior Owen Goeb recorded a pair of hits in the inning — a 1-out infield single and an RBI double later in the frame to give the Mustangs a 15-10 lead.

Tyler Darche delivered a 2-run single, and Diego Gutierrez added an RBI single, as the Mustangs capitalized on 3 walks, 2 hit-by-pitches, and a wild pitch in the inning.

In the second, Metea sent 11 batters to the plate during a 6-run outburst, highlighted by Ethan Singer’s RBI single, and Tyler Gluting’s 3-run home run that sailed over the center field fence.

“That definitely got our momentum going — it put us up 4-0 in the second,” Gluting said of his team-leading seventh home run.

Neuqua battled back, grabbing an 8-6 lead thanks to a 7-run fourth that included a 2-run home run from Christian Lott (3 for 4, 3 RBI), Jack Mackey’s 2-run single, and Andy Barkley’s RBI double.

Despite giving up the lead, the Mustangs were not rattled.

“We had a 6-spot in the second, so we knew we could do that again,” said Gluting. “We knew that the game wasn’t over, especially since it was just the fourth inning. The next inning, we had an 8-spot.”

Metea tied the game at 8-8 with 2 runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles from senior Michael Willhite and freshman catcher Diego Bastidas.

“He caught a little for us last week,” Mustangs coach Steve Colombe said of the recent varsity call-up. “We have a senior catcher (Willhite) who also played in the infield last year. He was great there so we wanted to get him back to that spot, and it gives us better depth.”

After watching an early 5-run lead disappear, the Mustangs showed their resiliency.

“It has been a good series between the two teams,” said Colombe. “Those were two tough 1-run losses. We’ve been through a little bit of a tough stretch and have had some injuries on the mound.

“I thought things were trending in the right direction so today was huge for us. It’s a credit to the kids. We needed to make sure we were sticking together and trying to relax at the plate.”

Carter Behrns picked up the victory in relief of starter Darche, while Gutierrez tossed a pair of scoreless frames to end it.

“We’re developing a lot of guys,” said Colombe. “This was Liam’s (McManamon) first series at shortstop — he’s a sophomore. Diego (Gutierrez), who played third and pitched today, was out last week with a little bit of a sore arm. Some guys stepped up. It’s great to see.”

Batting in the leadoff spot, Gluting (2 for 3, walk, hit by pitch, reached on an error) reached base all 5 times, as the Mustangs ended a 9-game losing skid with darkness setting in the later innings.

“We’ll play in the dark, we’ll play in cement, we’ll play wherever to get a win,” said Colombe. “We’re happy with the effort today.”