Neuqua Valley's ace, junior left-hander Ian Krol, finally made his first start of the season Tuesday. Krol dominated last year, and everyone expected more of the same this season.
Then St. Charles North showed up to Neuqua's field and made him earn it. Then they made him leave the game before his fourth full inning of work was under his belt.
Krol left Tuesday's 7-4 loss to the North Stars, having allowed seven runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. He also walked three batters and hit two others, countering his seven strikeouts.
So what went wrong?
"They took more pitches. They were like, 'We're gonna make him throw strikes,'" said Neuqua senior catcher Geoff Rowan. "The first three batters, they kind of went free swinging. After that, they were like, 'Let's make him throw pitches, let's get by him.'"
The North Stars also proved tough when they were behind in the count.
"They knew that we were either gonna tail away or we were coming after them," Rowan said. "And they were just, 'Boom, right field.' They were just content with hitting singles."
But after all that, Rowan knows Krol will come back strong this year.
"I'm not worried about him," Rowan said. "He's one of those world-class pitchers. He'll be all right."
Leave a comment