Baseball: North Avoids Central Sweep

In what has been a frustrating season at times for baseball team, Monday’s win over was welcomed.

The Huskies salvaged the final game of the three-game DuPage Valley Conference series, 11-6, at North Central College.

“It was a good team win,” North junior Mariano Long said. “We’ve had some bad losses this year and this was a good win. It was a good feeling. It’s the first time this year that we came out and smacked the ball around well as a team.”

The game was tight early on, with the scored tied at 1-1 going into the bottom of the third. That’s when North (7-11, 4-7 DVC) exploded. Four runs in both the third and fourth innings blew the game open.

Long’s RBI double got things going in the third, Jon Green knocked in a pair with a single and Nick Karl also singled in a run. In the fourth, Alex Moss drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, a Tyler Gehr ground out led to a run. Conner Adamski and Green each singled in a run to push the lead to 9-1.

“I was just happy to see that we had a little more offense going today,” North coach Carl Hunckler said. “We were able to run the bases more today like we normally do. We’re not a typical Huskie team right now because we’re down all the time and that takes away our aggressiveness.”

North jumped to a 5-0 lead in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against Central (13-7, 8-3), only to allow 10 unanswered runs in a 10-6 loss.

Central came back again, as well Monday. A five-run fifth chased North starter Dave Considine (1-1). An RBI triple from Jimmy Nashert, an RBI double from Ross Murphy and an RBI single from Derrick Avers keyed the inning.

But the damage could have been much worse. Brock Borgeson came on in relief and stranded a pair of Redhawks to limit the damage and hold the lead at 9-6.

“That was the key, for us to be winning 9-6 versus it being a 9-8 game,” Hunckler said. “That made all the difference in the world. It gave the guys a little breathing room.”

The Huskies responded with a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth and Borgeson kept mowing down the Redhawks. He retired all eight batters he faced to close the door.

Central finds itself a game behind Wheaton North in the DVC standings following Monday’s loss. The Redhawks get right back into DVC play against Glenbard East Tuesday. North faces Wheaton Warrenville South on Tuesday.

“I’m not disappointed, and I’m not discouraged,” Central coach Bill Seiple said. “We have to come back tomorrow, so we don’t have time to be disappointed. Sweeping these guys is always tough.

"For a team that’s not doing very well, this might be a season-maker for them. Give them credit.”