Waubonsie Valley had pushed Ian Krol well past 100 pitches on Thursday in Naperville, and the Neuqua Valley ace didn't return to the mound for the seventh inning.
The Warriors hadn't generated an extra-base hit, and already struck out 11 times. It was now up to Rob Skowronski to protect a 1-0 lead.
Eric Sousanes led off by chopping a ball toward a hole in the left side of the infield and raced to first.
Defensive issues haunted Neuqua earlier in the season, but shortstop Travis Weldon showed his range and gunned out Sousanes. Instead of no outs and a man on first, Neuqua was still in control. If Weldon doesn't make that play, Neuqua coach Robin Renner wondered, "Who knows what happens?"
Neuqua has won 13 of its last 15 games, is 10-1 in the Upstate Eight Conference, and looked sharp against Waubonsie on Thursday, giving the Warriors only one extra out. As Krol said, "We cleaned it up a lot."
The District 204 rivals meet again at Waubonsie on Saturday for a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. That will be Neuqua's sixth and seventh games in six days, and Renner will have to piece together his pitching staff - junior Mike McKinley is slated to start one of Saturday's games, while Skowronski and Craig Provow could split the other.
Junior center fielder and leadoff hitter Jordan Williamson, who bruised his hand on Tuesday, is expected to return Monday at Plainfield North.
Waubonsie (7-10, 5-5) will counter with Pat Murphy and Adam LeRoy on Saturday.
"You keep playing tight games against good programs against good pitchers and finally something's gonna happen," Waubonsie coach Dan Fezzuoglio said, "maybe in the tournament, you know, good things happen."
Leave a comment