Naperville North baseball comes out on top on the road in a competitive game against DVC rival Neuqua Valley. This highlight is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.
Naperville North baseball travels to Neuqua Valley and it’s a beautiful day. This game is to strike out cancer as both teams are wearing special jerseys to honor someone they know who battled or is battling cancer. People in attendance are also wearing pink and the special cause has brought out a good crowd.
Naperville North gets its bats going early
To the bottom of the first where Mark Mennecke gets the scoring going. He sends a solo home run into left field and gets the Cats up one to begin the game.
North is now up and it’s Cole Clemens’s turn to swing for the fences. He hits one into left and gets some assistance from the left fielder who has the ball hit off his glove and over the fence. We’re all square at one in the second.
Next inning for the Huskies, Zach Bava decides to crush a dinger of his own. It’s good to extend North’s lead to 3-1 after another run scored in the second.
We stay in the third where North’s Jackson Prentice slashes one between third base and the shortstop. It drives in a run and brings the Huskie lead to three.
Neuqua Valley fights back
Mennecke gets another go in the box for Neuqua, and while it might not be a home run, he collects another RBI on the single then advances to second off a wild throw. The Cats still trail in the bottom of the third.
The next at-bat is a big one for the Cats. Thomas Kuban sends the ball deep into left with the ball hugging the foul pole. It clears the fence, and the umpire calls it fair. We’re back even at four.
In the bottom of the fourth, Neuqua’s now up 5-4 and they add on to that. A single by Andrew Gould drives in one run and the Wildcats take a 6-4 lead, scoring five unanswered runs.
Naperville North is able to respond here off a hard single up the middle by Peyton Seiple. That brings home a run and gets the Huskies closer to tying it in the sixth inning.
North responds
To the top of the seventh, North needs one run to tie the game and it comes off the bat of Prentice. He comes up clutch for the Huskies advancing to second while Clemens gets to third base just before the tag. We’re all tied at six.
Big moment here as Sabastian Guzman gets Seiple to swing, but it’s a dropped third strike. It allows a runner to cross the plate and give North a 7-6 lead.
Next at bat, Max Steele comes up with the bases juiced and hits a blooper which just drops past the diving effort from the left fielder. It allows two runs to score, but Seiple is called out trying to score from first base. North is up 9-6 with the Wildcats getting one more chance for a comeback.
Yash Desai comes into the game in the seventh and ends up facing a bases-loaded situation. He’s able to pick up two big strikeouts under some heavy pressure, including this one.
One out left and the bases still juiced, Desai is able to force a ground ball from the hitter and Tanner Mally touches second base to close out the game. North wins a back-and-forth contest that saw many lead changes and multiple home runs from each team.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
