Acton delivers in extras for Blackhawks

Updated: May 4, 2011 8:55PM

Looking down the barrel of a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in extra innings Wednesday, the West Aurora Blackhawks needed a hero.

Center fielder Job Acton was ready with his gun of a right arm. Drifting to his left for a flyball, Acton made the catch and fired a perfect throw to the plate shooting down the go-ahead run.

Moments later, Acton smacked a two-out RBI single to give West a 2-1, eight-inning win over Glenbard North in a DuPage Valley Conference contest. It was a much needed victory for the struggling Blackhawks, who are 7-12 overall and 4-9 in league play.

Both starting pitchers were cruising along until the extra frame. The Panthers’ Brandon Villanueva opened the eighth inning with a single up the middle, and after West Aurora pitcher Austin Wyeth misplayed consecutive sacrifice bunts attempts, he was in a predicament.

Wyeth recorded 13 flyouts in the first seven innings, but was hoping for a groundball now. Instead, Mark Ng hit a high fly that Acton camped under before throwing out pinch-runner Gino Santaniello. Catcher Omar Fernandez took the throw and slapped down the tag. West second baseman Adam Lipscomb ended the Panthers’ threat by making a diving catch in foul territory.

“As soon as he hit it, I was like please get this and throw him out,” Wyeth said of Acton’s play. “That was huge. He’s got a really good arm and is a good outfielder.”

Cody Love led off the bottom of the eighth frame with a base hit to center field, but Panther starter Andrew Bergmann whiffed the next two batters. The Blackhawks were given an extra out when Fernandez reached on a throwing error that allowed Love to advance to third base.

Acton capitalized quickly, driving the ball to the fence in the left field alley. Acton rounded first and headed straight for the celebration scene at home plate.

“It just felt good to come through for the team,” Acton said. “We haven’t been playing well as of late. I was able to come up with a big play on defense and then rip a shot to left center. I was looking for a fastball and got it.”

Wyeth earned the win, striking out five while not issuing a free pass. Bergmann fanned 11 and walked one in the tough-luck loss for the Panthers (13-7 overall). West Aurora collected nine hits and managed to bunch three hits together in the sixth inning when it tied the game at 1-1.

Richie Renner and Ricky Rivera hit back-to-back singles and Bobby Drager slapped a two-out single to right field that scored Renner. The Panthers notched a run in the fourth inning. Anthony Keener and Evin Natick both singled and Keener scored on a sacrifice fly by Jake Kline.

“I was trying to mix it up, throw inside, outside,” said Wyeth, who scattered four hits and pitched five 1-2-3 innings. “I was getting a little winded toward the end, but I was able to throw strikes in the right situations. I didn’t want want to give them too much to hit.”

“It’s been a hard fought battle for us right now, and we’ve talked about finishing on a positive note,” West Aurora coach John Reeves said. “And that was a big time play (by Acton).

“We’ve been talking all season about guys stepping up and stopping the bleeding, and you couldn’t ask for a bigger play,” Reeves continued. “For Jon to throw a guy out at the plate and then come up with the game-winning hit against their number one (pitcher) was huge for us.”

Acton and Cal Wagner had two hits each for the Blackhawks.  

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