Neuqua's comeback nets a regional title

Neuqua Valley players congratulate Alex Lincoln (left) on his two-run homer in the sixth inning against Plainfield North.
(Jonathan Miano/Naperville Sun)

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Neuqua Valley waited three days to play a game that was postponed twice. But then things started happening real quick in this regional championship and now Neuqua has less than 24 hours to enjoy it.

The Wildcats fell behind by five runs, and then scored 14 unanswered to knock out fourth-seeded Plainfield North with a 15-6 victory on Tuesday in Darien. Fifth-seeded Neuqua (25-11) advances to face 16th-seeded Providence (20-15) Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Class 4A Lockport Sectional.

"We kind of (lost) focus of the strike zone and next thing you know it started rolling downhill," Plainfield North coach John Darlington said afterward. "We couldn't catch up to it."

It started with a weird fourth inning in which Neuqua scored five runs on zero hits. Tigers starter Mike Klett, who has committed to Western Michigan, entered the fourth with a 6-1 lead but then walked the first three batters and Plainfield North (27-7) unraveled.

Neuqua cut it to 6-5 when reliever Ethan Johnson's pickoff throw to third bounced into foul territory, allowing two runs to score.

Neuqua coach Robin Renner couldn't help but think back to the 2007 state championship game against New Trier. A similar error helped pave the way for a five-run fourth inning in an eventual 5-1 victory. If nothing else, Neuqua understands playoff baseball. Seniors Jordan Williamson and Mike McKinley have now won 94 games across the past three seasons.

"I've been here since the state championship. (It's) one bad game, one bad inning, you can be done for the season," said Williamson, who drilled two solo home runs on Tuesday. "(You) got to be lucky, but you got to play competitive baseball through the whole thing.

"You just got to keep your head on straight, got to play error-free baseball the whole tournament, or bad things could happen. You saw the No. 1 seed in our sectional (Lincoln-Way East) dropped out first game."

The Wildcats kept pounding the ball on a day where it was absolutely flying out of Hinsdale South's field. In the fifth, No. 7 hitter Joe Ippolito lifted a solo home run that gave Neuqua the go-ahead run it needed. The next inning saw Neuqua score six more, including a two-run shot from No. 8 hitter Alex Lincoln.

With that type of production throughout the lineup, McKinley (6-3) received some breathing room. The Indiana recruit recovered from a rocky start – he gave up back-to-back homers in the third – and began relying more on his curveball. McKinley retired the final 12 batters he faced in a complete-game effort, finishing with 10 strikeouts.

"You get a good inning, you build your confidence up. Because they were slapping me all over the ballpark," McKinley said. "But I knew that I was gonna have to bounce back in order to give us a chance."

McKinley, who threw less than 100 pitches, should be available to start if Neuqua reaches Saturday's sectional final at Lockport. Craig Provow, who threw a complete-game shutout in the regional semifinal against Romeoville, will face Providence Wednesday night.

Neuqua – a state finalist the past two seasons – isn't fazed by this time of year.

"We knew we could hit. We weren't too worried about it," Williamson said. "We were just worried about playing defense and Mike pitching well on the mound. We knew we could hang with these guys. (We) weren't too down on ourselves."