Baseball: April 2008 Archives

Neuqua Valley's baseball team claimed the No. 1 seed in its own sectional Wednesday.

The Wildcats, which won the AA state championship last year, top what's been called an insane field of competition. Insane, these days, doubles for difficult.

Without further deadpanned delay, here's the top 16 seeds:

1. Neuqua Valley
2. Downers Grove South
3. Lockport
4. Lincoln-Way East
5. Downers Grove North
6. Joliet Township
7. Benet
8. Naperville Central
9. Plainfield North
10. Naperville North
11. Hinsdale South
12. West Aurora
13. Providence Catholic
14. Romeoville
15. Wheaton Warrenville South
16. Waubonsie Valley

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.

Jordan Williamson showed up to Neuqua Valley's 10-6 win over Lake Park on Wednesday with good news.

Turns out, Williamson only suffered a severely bruised hand and not a broken one when he got hit by a pitch Tuesday.

The junior center fielder and leadoff hitter will return to the lineup as soon as he's pain free, which could take a few days still.

Remember the Ian Krol for Jordan Williamson and Bryan Berryman for Ian Krol plan painfully detailed in today's print edition of The Sun?

Well, thankfully for Neuqua Valley, that merry-go-round between center field and first base may only happen for a few games, although very important games.

Williamson's X-rays came back negative Tuesday night, which means Neuqua's leadoff hitter and center fielder shouldn't have to miss the rest of the season with a broken hand.

Here's the catch: there was so much swelling, doctors scheduled a follow-up with Williamson at 3:30 p.m. today. Cross your fingers, Wildcats fans, for positive (um, negative) results on Williamson's check-up.

Neuqua coach Robin Renner remains hopeful that Williamson will be back in the lineup by Monday. In that case, here's the schedule Neuqua will face without him.

The Wildcats (12-3, 8-1 Upstate Eight Conference) have league matchups with Lake Park today, Waubonsie Valley on Thursday, St. Charles North on Friday and two more against rival Waubonsie on Saturday.

Currently, St. Charles North and Neuqua are co-leaders.

"I think the winner of the conference will have three losses," Renner said. "I think the team that has four losses will be second."

You know what he means. Neuqua can only afford two more league losses.

Stay tuned for more on Jordan's comeback.

CHICAGO - Standing near the edge of U.S. Cellular Field's foul territory, on the first-base side, Mick Doyle didn't want to sound like an ungrateful guest on Wednesday night.

"Don't get me wrong," the Notre Dame freshman reserve infielder said, "this is awesome to be out here, but I'm a Cubs fan."

The Benet graduate admits he's lost count, but Notre Dame's Web site lists 11 eleven relatives who graduated from the school, though Doyle pointed out that several others went to nearby St. Mary's.

"It's my dream school," Doyle said. "Just wake up, see the Dome, get to go play baseball. It's been great so far."

Doyle didn't play in Notre Dame's 5-4 victory over Northern Illinois on Wednesday night. The game, one that unfolded exactly one year after the shootings at Virginia Tech, was a benefit for a Northern Illinois scholarship fund.

Doyle has started seven games for the Fighting Irish (23-9-1) and is hitting .276 as mostly a bench player. The biggest adjustment Doyle has noticed is the velocity of the college game.

"I would just say that the speed of the game is definitely quicker, especially moving over to third base," Doyle said. "They call it the hot corner for a reason. Ball's on you a lot quicker."

Notre Dame expects Doyle to handle the learning curve, perhaps sooner than later.

"He's been a pleasant surprise," Notre Dame assistant coach Scott Lawler said of Doyle. "He's farther ahead of what I thought he'd be. I think he'll be our shortstop or starting third baseman (in) the future.

"He's an outstanding kid. He's gonna be one of our leaders."

Bad Kermit over at hirejimessian.com is betting that the Cubs will undearchieve in the run-scoring department this season and asks the question, "Will the Cubs score fewer runs than the Naperville Central Redhawks?" So far, the Redhawks are trailing 63 percent to 37 percent in the poll. What do you think? To vote, click here.

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."

AURORA - Waubonsie Valley could exhale around 6:52 p.m., when Chris Galovic walked off the mound to shake coach Dan Fezzuoglio's hand near the third-base line.

Waubonsie lost 26 games last year, and a few games just like this already this season. But with two on and two outs, and clinging to a one-run lead, the Warriors did not come undone.