Downers South ousts defending champs

Updated: May 28, 2011 8:53PM

Coming into the postseason armed with the confidence that comes with being defending Class 4A state champions, Naperville Central strongly felt it could make another extended postseason run.

That confidence was largely placed upon the arms of its top two starters, senior left-hander Dan Ludwig and junior right-hander Ian Lewandowski.

The fourth-seeded Redhawks knew they would have an opportunity to be in every game because of the duo, but the glaring question surrounding the program was how would its offense fare against quality starting pitching?

Facing probably its stiffest challenge on the mound to date in Downers Grove South senior right-hander Matt Wivinis, Naperville Central just couldn’t capitalize on its rare offensive opportunities in falling 3-1 in the Class 4A Hinsdale Central Regional final.

With the game tied at 1-1 in the fifth, the Mustangs came through with a pair of two-strike, two-out RBI hits — a RBI double from senior catcher Nick Tenerelli and a RBI single from Wivinis — to help reclaim the momentum.

“I walked down to (pitching coach) John (Scherrman) and I said, ‘if they get a runner at second with two outs, we’re not gonna pitch to (Tenerelli),’” said Naperville Central coach Bill Seiple, whose 30-year run at the helm of his alma mater’s baseball program ends with 711 victories, 13 regional titles, three sectional titles and a pair of state championships in 2006 and 2010. “We go 1-2 on him and it’s like I get greedy. All we needed to do is make one more pitch and that’s not me.

“Ian pitched his heart out. He was tough. He threw strikes. I was just so disappointed in myself that I’m too old and I’ve done it too long to make a mistake that way.”

As expected, Lewandowski (8-3) did an admirable job in keeping the Redhawks in the game by allowing two earned runs on six hits in his seven innings of work, but as the program changes hands from Bill Seiple to Mike Stock, what the Redhawks didn’t do in the third and fourth innings will haunt them when looking back.

In both frames, Naperville Central (21-13) got its first two men aboard courtesy of singles but only could scratch across a single run off Wivinis, who has signed with Kansas State.

After Derrick Avers and Mike Riordan singled to start the third, the Redhawks were kept off the scoreboard in the inning after Wivinis struck out sophomore catcher Brian Schiemann swinging and got another one of the Redhawks’ sophomores, shortstop Nick Lopez, to ground into a double play and end the inning.

The Redhawks’ run came in the fourth after Conor Philbin and Lewandowski came through with singles and Jake DeVoy beat out a potential double play to score Philbin, who got to third courtesy of a wild pitch from Wivinis.

“We had a couple opportunities,” Seiple said. “We go first-and-third (in the third), they shouldn’t have an opportunity to turn a double play on that. You play tournament ball, you gotta make stuff happen.”

Perhaps foreshadowing what it will be like a year from now when he will be leading the pitching staff as a senior, Lewandowski showed his worth in doing all he could to help Naperville Central try and reach its third straight sectional.

Wivinis, though, was just a little bit better after tossing a complete game while fanning seven for Downers South (24-13), which won its first regional since 2007 and will face top-seeded Plainfield North on Wednesday in a Class 4A Neuqua Valley Sectional Semifinal.

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