St. Charles North's bad luck continues
Mary Beth Nolan/mnolan@dailyherald.com
St. Charles North third baseman Kevin Borst gets tangled with pitcher Zach Hirsch while catching a popup Friday in St. Charles.
Before St. Charles North took the field against Neuqua Valley in a battle of the top teams in the Upstate Eight Conference, observers in the press box joked they better play the fast version of the National Anthem.
With nasty weather approaching, every minute counted. The weather eventually won out, halting the game with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
A lightning bolt just as Neuqua Valley starting pitcher Geoff Rowan fired to the plate caused the umpires to stop play immediately.
"I did see lightning, it came down behind me," Rowan said. "I was like, 'Whoa, wait a minute, that isn't supposed to be there.'"
The umpires waited about 30 minutes, but with more lightning appearing in the distance, they decided to suspend the game.
Neuqua Valley leads 2-0, and the game will resume with the North Stars' Jake Thornton at third base and two outs in the fourth. No date has been set.
"Seems like every time I pitch it rains," said Rowan, who is 2-1 and has had three starts interrupted by rain. "I want to come and finish this game whenever we pick it up."
This is the fourth suspended game St. Charles North has to complete. It's why the North Stars (10-4, 6-1) are tied with Neuqua Valley (14-3, 10-1) in the lost column in the Upstate Eight yet four wins behind.
St. Charles North coach Todd Genke headed a three-hour effort getting their field ready for the game.
"It's just disappointing," Genke said. "The kids want to play so bad."
The North Stars also have games to complete against Waubonsie Valley, Streamwood and a nonconference contest against Dundee-Crown. Before this year, the North Stars had one suspended game in Genke's seven seasons.
"It's crazy," Genke said. "I'm scrambling. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be battle of attrition."
Neuqua Valley took a 1-0 lead in the first. St. Charles North starter Zach Hirsch walked leadoff hitter Chris Kruppe.
Kruppe scored after a single by Ian Krol, Travis Weldon's sacrifice bunt and Rowan's RBI groundout.
"We knew we had to (play small ball)," Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner said. "We're not going to score a million off him. He's awfully good."
Krol made it 2-0 in the third with a solo home run to right. Down 1-2 in the count, he fouled off two pitches to stay alive before his blast.
The Wildcats put runners on second and third with no outs in the fourth. Hirsch escaped unscathed with a strikeout, an unsuccessful suicide squeeze and a groundout.
The North Stars only managed Thornton's infield single against Rowan, who was excited for this matchup after losing 1-0 to St. Charles North last year.
"I felt like I owed them," Rowan said. "I was throwing pretty good, hitting my spots, that's the name of my game. Try to keep them off balance and I think I did for the most part."
On the last pitch of the day, Rowan threw a wild pitch just as the lightning came. Thornton could have scored from third on the play, which Genke argued to no avail.
"It was a pretty big part of the game there, instead of 2-1 it's 2-0," Genke said. "But I understand, safety first."
St. Charles North plays a doubleheader against Streamwood today before a 7-game slate next week.
"We have to really keep an eye on pitch counts," Genke said. "And maybe save a guy, let him throw 50 pitches and take him out. I don't like doing that but at this point we may have to do something like that."