Sports
Baseball: Naperville Central Sweeps Naperville North in Doubleheader
Naperville Central 12-10, Naperville North 2-5. Timely hitting by the Redhawks and erratic defense and pitching by the Huskies leads to the sweep.
The annual rivalry between and in baseball is often full of dramatics.
This time, however, most of the dramatics were over whether or not the players could catch the pop flies swirling around in the 40-plus mph winds and gusts. More often than not, they couldn’t, leading to many second chances for both sides.
The defending champ Redhawks (13-6, 8-2) made the most of their opportunities and swept the Huskies 12-2 (5 inn.) and 10-5.
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“We were real aggressive at the plate today,” Redhawks coach Bill Seiple said.
In both games, the Huskies (6-11, 3-7) jumped out to early leads. In game one, Redhawks starter Dan Ludwig surrendered a run on a sac fly in the first before settling down and allowing only three hits and one run the rest of the way.
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“He (Ludwig) is a real good pitcher,” Huskies coach Carl Hunckler said. “Seems like every time we face him he throws a two or three-hitter against us.”
The Redhawks’ offense pulled their weight with a pair of three-run homers from Ross Murphy and Conor Philbin. DH Jake Devoy hit a towering fly ball in the bottom of the fifth that was misplayed by center fielder Mariano Long, allowing Ian Lewandowski to score all the way from first and end the first game 12-2.
Game two started off very well for the Huskies. They hammered starter Jimmy Nashert for five runs in the first two innings, knocking him out of the game.
The Redhawks battled back in the bottom half of the frame with the first four runners reaching base and two runs scored before Huskies starter Garrett Borg was pulled. Ross Murphy cut the lead to 5-3 with a sac fly before Derrick Avers grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Kody Willis stepped in for the Redhawks after Nashert left and was very solid, allowing only one run in five innings.
“We were fortunate in game two that Kody came in, gave us five good innings, and gave us a chance,” Seiple said.
The offense continued their torrid pace, adding four in the fourth and three more in the sixth. They took advantage of defensive miscues and poor throws from the outfield, giving them four and five outs instead of three.
The Redhawks and Huskies meet again on Monday at North Central College in Naperville.
