Neuqua Valley hits the baseball diamond on a sunny Monday afternoon as the Wildcats are coming off a series win over Naperville North. Naperville Central travels south to face the Cats, and the Redhawks are also coming off a DVC series win over Waubonsie Valley. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Wildcats come out swinging
The Wildcats take an early lead, going up 1-0. Then, Will Zalabak steps up to the plate and delivers a hit that brings home Paul Feret, extending their lead to 2-0.
Zalabak is also on the mound, and besides throwing the heat, he can also make plays if he needs to, and he does so by winning the race to the bag and sending opposing baserunners to the dugout.
The Redhawks finally swing away as Aiden Clark rips this ball out to center that gets down, and then he turns the jets to third base for a triple.
Then Troy Kashul cashes in with a bomb out to center that bounces over the fence for a ground rule double, but that brings in a run, and the Redhawks are on the board.
Neuqua answers in the third inning with Carson Stevens getting a base hit into right field, and that allows two more runs to cross the plate. It’s 4-1 Cats.
In the fourth inning, Paul Feret keeps bringing in the runs for the blue and gold as we see Josh Buerstetta dash his way home and we have a 5-1 Neuqua Valley lead.
Redhawk bats make it game
7-2 Neuqua with the Redhawks up to bat in the fifth. Chase Reeder pops one up that Andrew Gould thinks he will catch, but it’s just out of reach into short center field. Pinch runner Reid Chamberlain takes advantage of the error, coming in to score to give Central some life.
Still in the fifth and Henry Paul skyrockets his hit out to left and it lands and hops over the fence for another ground rule double. Kashul and Reeder score, and the Redhawks are alive down 7-6 after seemingly being dead in the water.
Neuqua Valley baseball ends it in six
Neuqua takes its turn to bat, and Peter Pipikios goes for the long ball out to rightfield. It’s off the fence as he heads to second for a double.
Matt Knapczyk is on a mission to bring Pipikios home and his RBI single into right grows the Neuqua lead to 8-6.
The bats were hot all game long for the Wildcats, and Sebastian Guzman put the cherry on top with a hit that pops out of the right fielder’s glove on a diving attempt and runs keep on coming. Will Zalabak and Andrew Gould come in to score. Neuqua wins it in six innings 16-6 thanks to the run rule to start the series on the right foot. Carson Stevens leads the Wildcats with five RBI on the day.
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