Benet Academy baseball hosts Naperville Central, for the season’s only meeting between the two local schools. The Redhawks are 9-10 coming into the matchup, while the Redwings are 13-8-2. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Benet baseball gets out to an early lead in the first against Naperville Central
Starting pitcher Johnathan Rossi makes quick work of the top of the first inning, striking out Jackson First, bringing up the Redwings bats.
Ryan Cibulka hits a ground ball to the shortstop but he beats out the throw with his speed to get the Redhawks going.
Benet strikes first. Joe Coffey’s ground out turns into an RBI with Cibulka scoring from third after a series of base steals.
Josh Gugora keeps the runs coming. His single drives in one more and the Redwings lead 2-0 in the bottom of the first.
A bang, bang play at first as Nikolas Dabrowski hits a ground ball to third base but the throw takes the first baseman off the bag and Dabrowski is safe.
Still in the first, Charlie King singles, bringing in two runs. It’s 4-0 to end the inning. Coffey and Gugora celebrate the runs with a slam dunk celebration in the dugout.
Joe Czuba sparks some offense for Naperville Central
In the top of the second. Chase Reeder doubles to the wall. He leads off the inning with a positive site , they trail by four.
In the next at-bat, Bill Enright draws a walk placing the first runner in scoring position for the Redhawks.
Central draw their first runners of the day as Joe Czuba doubles after the Redwings leftfielder attempts to dive but misses the ball. It’s 4-1.
Cooper Page trims the lead with a single. The bats for Naperville Central are answering the rally Benet put on, as it’s now 4-2.
While Page steals second a runner from third would score for the Redhawks. They now trail 4-3.
The Redwings continue to pile on more runs
Moving to the bottom of the third, Cibulka once again shows off the speed. This time he reaches safe on a bunt after beating out the throw.
After Mark Izzo hits one in on the sac fly, the bats stay hot and deliver as Coffey keeps the inning going with a double to the wall. Then Luke Wildes brings Coffey in as the Redwings look to make another dent on the scoreboard for a second time.
Dabrowski trying to show off his speed on a single that drives in the third run of the inning but on his turn from first to second, he is gunned down for the final out of the inning. Benet still leads 7-3.
Here come the Redhawks
To start the top of the sixth, Jacob Gervase hits a fly ball in the infield but pitcher Brandon Cerocke and his catcher don’t call each other off as the ball falls out of Cerocke’s glove and Geravse is safe.
After back-to-back walks to load the bases, Czuba would add another RBI for his evening with a sac fly making it 7-4 with one out.
A passed ball just pitches later would force in another run and all of a sudden the Redhawks have life in the sixth, trailing 7-5.
This would bring up Bruno King who laces a single bringing in two runners and tying the game at 7-7 after being down four runs the majority of the game.
Josh Gugora drives in the winning run to give Benet Academy baseball the win against Naperville Central
Benet wastes no time in the bottom of the sixth as Gugora drives in a runner from second and the Redwings retake the lead 8-7 with the game completely in their hands.
In the top of the seventh, closing pitcher Nick Zoberis makes quick work getting help from his defense with the first two outs, then striking out the game’s final batter.
Benet Academy takes a thrilling 8-7 win against Naperville Central and advances to 14-8-2 on the season. The Redwings celebrated starting pitcher Jonathon Rossi after the game for his birthday.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
