Sunny skies a welcome sight after a week of rain, Metea Valley on the road to face Neuqua Valley a day after handing the Wildcats their first conference loss in walk off fashion by a score of 3-2.
First Inning
Bottom of the first two away, but Brandon Sfikas is in a jam with the bases packed, but Sfikas makes the nice snag off the bounce to get Mitch Rokosz at first to end the inning with no score.
Third Inning
Bottom of the third, two down Mitch Rokosz at the dish and he hammers one up the middle to score Justin Blazek from third. The Wildcats take a 1-0 lead to open the scoring.
Fourth Inning
Top of the 4th, strange play here as Tony Campise lines a ball to right with two outs, Mike Gould goes for the diving catch, but he can’t hang on and is slow to get up. You can see the ump signal it’s a live ball, Jason Kirchner never stops running and he comes in to score and tie the game. Campise heads to third on the throw.
With the go ahead run at third, NV pitcher Jake Karaba buckles down and strikes out Dylan Wrona with a breaking ball to end the threat. Six K’s in the game for Karaba.
Bottom 4 runners at 2nd and 3rd with two out, but again Brandon Sfikas slips out of the jam as Dylan Wrona hauls in the Ethan Schreier line drive to end the inning.
Seventh Inning
We move to the bottom of the 7th, as Jack Cagigal works his third inning of relief, but Justin Blazek drives ball deep into left center for a two out hit. Zach Weiss comes in to pinch run.
With the winning run at 2nd, Kevin Butler lines a shot off the glove of first baseman Van Harrington. As the ball rolls away, Butler is safe at first and Weiss breaks for home. Harrington’s throw in on target, but Weiss just gets his hand in before the tag. A day after getting walked off, Neuqua Valley returns the favor with a thrilling 2-1 win.
Check out other baseball and softball highlights that go in to Naperville Sports Weekly!
