Lewandowski pitches Naperville Central to win
It will be a District 203 vs. District 204 baseball showdown for the Class 4A Romeoville sectional title Saturday morning.
Fifth-seeded Naperville Central (26-12) held off top-seeded Plainfield North (33-5) 4-3 on Wednesday to advance and will await the outcome of Thursday’s second semifinal battle between third-seeded Neuqua Valley and 10th-seeded Metea Valley.
“What a thrill for the kids and the program,” said Naperville Central coach Mike Stock. “What makes high school sports great is a performance like that by a kid like that.”
Stock was referring to winning pitcher Ian Lewandowski. The University of Illinois-Chicago bound senior went the distance, allowed just three hits and struck out six. He set the Tigers down in order five of the game’s seven innings.
“I was getting my change-up in at the end and starting to fool the hitters. I felt good the whole game,” Lewandowski said.
The winning run for the Redhawks came in the fifth inning. Jeff Schank led off with a single to center with courtesy runner Ryan Avers moving to second on Jeff Lucas’ sacrifice bunt. The first of two balks was called, moving Avers to third. Minutes later, a second balk brought Avers home for a 3-2 lead and Plainfield North coach John Darlington was ejected for arguing the call.
Naperville Central made it 4-2 in the sixth when Lewandowski reached on an infield hit thanks to a well-placed groundball. Courtesy runner Sean Goblet moved to third on a fielding error that put Ross Murphy at second and was safe on a throw to home that put Blake Butler on with a fielder’s choice.
While the Redhawks got strong pitching from Lewandowski, the Tigers also got a strong outing from Notre Dame-bound Joe Cresta.
He also went seven innings, also allowed just three hits, struck out four and he set Napervlle Central down in order during three innings.
“His pitches had movement. He got his stuff over the plate. We took advantage of a few errors — the balks — and got some hits,” Schank said.
The Redhawks tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the second. Catcher Brian Schiemann led off with an infield hit. His courtesy runner, Nick Ryan, reached third on a dropped flyball that put Butler on base. Schank’s groundout scored Ryan and a wild pitch eventually scored Butler.
“We worked our butts off all year and to get to the game (sectional final) is big,” Lewandowski said.
Naperville Central lost to Neuqua Valley 1-0 on March 31 and has not faced Metea Valley this season.
Game time for Neuqua Valley-Metea on Thursday is 4:30 p.m. Saturday’s sectional final starts at 11 a.m.