Tough schedule pays off for Naperville Central

Updated: April 14, 2011 2:16PM

Over the course of coach Bill Seiple's 30-year tenure at Naperville Central, testing his team with a tough nonconference slate in preparation for a rugged DuPage Valley Conference season has become a rite of spring.

With a senior-laden lineup, winning their first eight games last season – with the lone nonconference loss coming at Stevenson – helped set the Redhawks up for their 20-1 DVC campaign and the ensuing postseason which saw them get revenge for three of their four regular-season losses.

Playing the likes of Lyons, Neuqua Valley, No. 1 Providence and Stevenson this spring have taken on a little bit more importance due to the team's youth and inexperience.

"When you play great people, and I think we do, you're not gonna win them all," Seiple said. "If there are weaknesses in your game, you're gonna see them. These teams have given us the opportunity to see what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are. We still are an act in progress."

Going toe-to-toe with the top-ranked Celtics last Thursday before eventually losing 9-7 and earning victories over Lyons and Stevenson could translate well into the DVC season, which Naperville Central (7-4, 2-0) began Monday with an 8-5 victory at West Aurora.

"We play those teams and they're highly-touted, obviously. Providence's No. 1 and Stevenson's always pretty good. When you play guys straight up like that, it's pretty good," said junior second baseman Ross Murphy, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI in Saturday's 3-2 victory over Stevenson. "It feels pretty good just knowing you can play with them."

Long stepping up for Huskies

After a poor summer, Naperville North came out of nowhere to some degree last spring by winning 30 games and the program's first regional crown since 2004 behind a solid offense and a pitching staff led by Matt LaCosse (7-0).

With LaCosse deciding to forgo his senior season on the diamond to focus on his impending college football career at Illinois, finding the guy to lead a young pitching staff was imperative.

"We kind of went in at tryouts with the mindset that he was gonna play and that if he came out, that'd be a big help to our team," said junior Mariano Long. "And when he didn't show up, me being the only guy returning, it hurt because he was a big part of our success last year. But you gotta make do with what you got. I think we're gonna have a pretty good pitching staff."

Against Waubonsie Valley last Wednesday, Long did his part by hurling a shutout, in which he scattered five hits and fanned seven as the Huskies emerged with a 2-0 victory.

Aside from scoring 18 runs in an 18-4 victory at Oswego East on April 4, Naperville North's offense has struggled in the early season as 10-run defeats to both top-10 foe Plainfield North and Benet would attest.

"Honestly, we're still trying to find ourselves. We're not the hitting team, the aggressive hitting team that I'm so used to seeing," Huskies coach Carl Hunckler said.

Naperville North (3-5, 0-1) concludes its DVC-opening series with Glenbard North at home Wednesday.

Another Slow start for Waubonsie Valley

Seeing Waubonsie Valley open the season with six straight losses shouldn't necessarily surprise the Warrior faithful.

In each of the past two seasons, Waubonsie Valley got off to slow starts right out of the gate, only to catch fire later on.

Uncharacteristic miscues defensively and offensive struggles have been the main culprits for the slow start this season.

"When you struggle, you have to tune in even more," Waubonsie Valley coach Dan Fezzuoglio said. "You can't let a ball get through your legs in the outfield (and) put a runner in scoring position. … When things aren't going your way, the key is you have to focus in even more." The Warriors (2-6, 2-2) finally broke through Monday with a 3-2 victory over Batavia.

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