Close calls might have helped prepare Naperville Central

You couldn't find two more evenly-matched baseball teams than Naperville Central and Stevenson.

Heading into Friday's semifinal showdown at Joliet's Silver Cross Field, however, the Redhawks felt they had an edge.

They turned it into a 6-4 victory and a spot in today's Class 4A state title game.

"We felt coming over here the one edge we might have had is that we've had to play games like this all the way through the tournament," said Redhawks coach Bill Seiple. "We thought if we got into a 1- or 2-run game where we had to make a play and they had to make a play, that might be the only slight edge we had.

"We knew they were a terrific team - they are a terrific team," he said. "But we might have had a little bit of an edge there."

The playoff scores certainly show a striking difference between Naperville Central (37-4) and the Patriots (34-4). As Stevenson rolled through its bracket, the Redhawks trudged through the state's toughest sectional at Plainfield South.

Naperville Central rallied late to beat Benet 4-3 in the Lockport regional semifinals, and then a 3-1 deficit turned into a 6-3 win over the host Porters in the regional final. A 2-1 fourth-inning lead grew to a 7-1 win over Naperville North and after trailing 4-3 in the sixth inning to Plainfield North, the Redhawks rallied for a 5-4 win in the sectional final.

A 3-2 supersectional win over O'Fallon became another piece in a battle-tested puzzle. That's a 25-12 margin of victory compared to the stunning 44-3 advantage Stevenson enjoyed in its five previous playoff wins.

"I think that was a huge key," said Redhawks senior Shane Conlon. "We were looking at Stevenson's scores through this whole thing and they were just blowing teams out. We were thinking these guys must be killing the ball, and every single one of our games from the regional semifinal have been one-to-three run games.

"We're just used to being in games like that," he said.

Like most of its playoff games, Naperville Central trailed Stevenson 2-1 after an inning. Instead of letting the Patriots tack on like they have in past games, though, starting pitcher Dan Ludwig kept them at bay until the seventh inning.

By that time Naperville Central had built a 6-2 lead.

Of course, a Redhawks playoff win wouldn't be complete without some drama. But with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, Ludwig escaped the jam.

Naperville Central is sure to face another close game today against St. Rita (32-9) in the state title game.

That's fine with the Redhawks.

"That's the type of team we are," said Redhawks designated hitter Marc Mantucca. "We find a way to win these types of games."

kschmit@dailyherald.com