Naperville Central continues streak

Updated: April 25, 2011 6:24AM

According to Naperville Central coach Bill Seiple, his club overcame some "interesting defensive strategies" to pull out a 4-3 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South on Wednesday behind senior left-hander Dan Ludwig.

A day later, that scenario was on the verge of developing right in front of him yet again as a pair of errors from sophomore shortstop Nick Lopez opened the door for three WW South runs.

Facing the pressure of having to replace the slick glove of junior Nick Ryan and with the game tied at three after the Redhawks erased a two-run deficit with a two-run sixth, Lopez quickly made amends in the top of the seventh with the potential go-ahead run on second base by starting a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The sophomore's ability to quickly turn the double play and bail starter Ian Lewandowski out of trouble and keep the game tied proved pivotal as Naperville Central would eventually come away with a second straight 4-3 victory over WW South on Thursday, this time in walk-off fashion.

"Great character win," Seiple said. "Baseball's a game of failure. (Lopez) got knocked down, he got up and made a play in the seventh inning that won us the game. Losing Nick Ryan, it put us in a situation where we're putting a guy out there that is doing the best he can, and if he gives us a chance, that's what we're hoping for."

Buoyed by a two-run sixth and Lopez redeeming himself with his second chance in the top half of the seventh, Naperville Central (10-4, 5-0 DuPage Valley) proceeded to jumpstart a two-out rally off Tigers' right-handed starter Jason Schuman by loading the bases courtesy of an error from Lopez's counterpart at shortstop, Jeremy Rhoades, and a pair of walks to Conor Philbin and Lewandowski.

With no margin for error and a pair of wild pitches during the Redhawks' two-run sixth serving as proof, Schuman's 1-2 delivery to Jake DeVoy was blooped into left field, over the head of Rhoades, to bring home Ross Murphy, who had gotten on via Rhoades' error, with the game-winning run.

"I was definitely just looking for something I could hit. I knew they were just gonna throw right at me with bases loaded, two outs," DeVoy said. "They weren't gonna risk throwing a curveball in the dirt, so I was just looking for a fastball I could hit. I saw it and I was just lucky enough to get it over (Rhoades') head."

Responding after back-to-back losses to Palatine and No. 1 Providence on April 6 and 7, the defending Class 4A state champions have reeled off six straight wins and will carry a 14-game DVC winning streak into Saturday's series finale with Wheaton Warrenville South in Wheaton, pushed back because of Tuesday's rainout.

DeVoy's bloop RBI single made a winner out of Lewandowski (5-0), who went the distance and allowed no earned runs while scattering five hits and striking out just two.

Retiring the first eight hitters and nine of 10 overall that he saw, the junior right-hander was seemingly in control until getting flustered a bit in the midst of his defense letting him down, but he preserved by tossing his second career complete game and his first in 2011.

"It was my fault. I started getting worked up on the mound and I shouldn't have done that," Lewandowski said. "I tried to throw too hard, I starting throwing balls and starting walking kids. I was lucky to get out of (the sixth) with only two runs instead opening it up to four or five or something like that to put us in a hole. But, overall, I think we just fought the whole game."

Tigers' center fielder Kevin Bridges went 2-for-3 and Schuman picked up the loss for WW South (6-8, 2-3 DuPage Valley) after going seven innings and just surrendering one earned run on five hits while fanning seven.

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