Plainfield North baseball wins in pitchers duel against Naperville North

Eleventh-seeded Naperville North travels to take on seventh-seeded Plainfield North in an IHSA Baseball Regional Semifinal.  The winner of this match will play the number three seed, Downers Grove South. The Huskies are winners of four of their last five coming into the postseason. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.

Plainfield North’s Ryan Mickenbecker and Naperville North’s Zak Sumser start the day on the mound

The game starts off as a pitcher’s duel, Ryan Mickenbecker on the mound for the Tigers catches Jackson Prentice looking for the strikeout in the first. Then in the top of the third, he does the same to Scott Walker for one of his three strikeouts on the day.  

Huskie pitcher Zak Sumser responds with a strikeout in the bottom of the third getting Maximos Barriball swinging and missing.  Then in the next inning, he catches Aidan Simmons doing the same for another K. That makes for two of the five strikeouts for Sumser on the day.  

Kyle Darlington sends in two runs and the Tigers are in front

The Tigers offense would break through a couple of at-bats later in the fourth. With two runners on base, Kyle Darlington hits a line drive to center field.  It brings in the first two runs of the day from David Wick and Colin Doyle to put Plainfield North up 2-0.  

A couple of at-bats later, Sam Beringer hits another shot towards left field but Matt Sonnenschein makes a diving catch to prevent a Tiger hit and end the inning without further damage.

Plainfield North baseball adds on another run and holds off Naperville North

However, in the bottom of the fifth, Plainfield North adds to the lead, as Joe Guiliano hits a bomb out to left field that is out of the park for a solo home run.  It extends the Tigers advantage, now up to 3-0.  

In the top of the seventh, the Huskies look to rally as Will Richards drives a line drive out to left field for his second hit of the game. That results in a double to keep Naperville North’s hopes alive. 

But a few at-bats later, the game is decided as Scott Walker hits a ground ball right back to Mickenbecker who throws for the tag at first to secure his shutout.  Plainfield North eliminates Naperville North with a 3-0 victory as the Tigers host Downers Grove South in the regional finals on Saturday.