Baseball: Metea Valley win a walk in the park
Metea Valley had plenty of good at-bats on Friday.
The Mustangs just didn't have the hits to prove it.
Despite managing only 2 infield hits, Metea Valley took advantage of 10 walks while beating Naperville North 5-3 in DuPage Valley Conference baseball action in Naperville.
After scoring double-digit runs in 11 of their first 17 games, the Mustangs (21-5, 9-5) haven't scored more than 6 runs in their last nine. Regardless, the plate approaches on Friday were a positive.
"Our coaches preach to always manufacture runs no matter what," said Mustangs third baseman Cade Sullivan, who walked twice and drove in a run with a groundout. "We pieced together everything we could today. We've been putting in a lot of extra time. We're just ready for the bats to come back."
Tate Smith and Jake Kmiecik coaxed bases-loaded walks in the second inning, and an error allowed a pair of unearned runs to score in the fourth. Even though Kmiecik and Spencer Collins were the only ones to scratch out infield hits, the clogged basepaths still created enough scoring.
"Our pitching's been good all year, and those guys have battled," said Huskies coach Jim Chiappetta. "The only thing that gets us in trouble is the free passes. We struggled with our control today, but we also competed on the mound to keep it close."
Naperville North (11-12, 5-10) stayed close thanks to timely hitting and key pitches by starter Ethan Kaiman and reliever Ben Lindflott. Cliff Vickers had a triple and 2 RBI while Jacob Scharm singled in a run.
The Huskies had the tying run at the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh but reliever Tony Campise got out of the jam to earn the save in relief of winning pitcher Brandon Sfikas, who struck out six in 6 innings.
"We've faced some good pitching the last week, and I think we've been pressing a little bit at the plate," said Mustangs coach Craig Tomczak. "I thought our approach today was a lot better. They're grinding right now but I think we'll get it going again."
Twitter: @kevin_schmit