Wegner makes the play for Naperville Central
If it's Naperville Central against Naperville North, the one sure thing is it'll be decided by a single play.
On Wednesday that play was made by Jason Wegner.
The Redhawks' senior second baseman singled home the winning run in the bottom of seventh inning to give Naperville Central's baseball team a 2-1 victory over Naperville North in the Class 4A Metea Valley regional semifinals in Aurora.
"That felt really good that last inning," Wegner said. "We just came out and we knew we were going to win that game. Just got guys on, moved them over. Just did what I had to do."
All three games in last week's DuPage Valley Conference series also were decided by 1 run, with the Huskies (17-16) winning twice. Thirteenth-seeded Naperville North and starting pitcher Kurt Krejci appeared on track for a third win over the Redhawks (22-12) until No. 4 Naperville Central tied the game on Luke Daley's two-out run-scoring single in the bottom of the sixth and then won it on Wegner's two-out hit an inning later.
Michael Kolzow led off the seventh with a single, moved to second on Dan Dolehide's two-strike sacrifice bunt and went to third on a groundout by Jack Alberts. Stuck in an 0-and-2 count, Wegner laced the ball into right field to end the game.
"That's the way it goes, credit goes to them," said Huskies coach Carl Hunckler. "We did everything we could to try and get a 'W' before we left, but it didn't work out."
Naperville North grabbed a 1-0 fourth-inning lead on Alex Garon's RBI single that scored Ryan Krainz. He reached base on a double when his shot to center field was ruled trapped by Alberts even though he and the rest of Naperville Central's team believed he caught the ball.
Complete-game winning pitcher Pat Maloney - who allowed 5 hits, struck out three, walked none and hit a batter - escaped that jam and then escaped a first-and-third situation with one out in the sixth.
"I had confidence that we were going to get runs," Maloney said. "I knew I just needed to keep the game close."
Krejci was brilliant as well while scattering 5 hits, striking out three, hitting two and walking two. Neither team committed an error. The Redhawks turned two double plays while Naperville North turned a third.
"It was a tough one," Krejci said. "We knew it was going to be close the entire game. I thought we had it after the first couple innings, but it just didn't go for us."
Naperville Central next faces Thursday's winner between Metea Valley and Neuqua Valley in Saturday's regional final.
"Give North's kids a lot of credit, they absolutely battled," said Redhawks coach Mike Stock. "I'm so proud that we came out and played as sharp as we did against a team that's playing real well."
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