Glenbard North edges Naperville Central

In close games, execution makes all the difference.

Given a pair of opportunities in the last week of the regular season to experience and get acquainted with the type of baseball that’s typically played in the postseason, Naperville Central will head into the postseason next week knowing where it will need to improve if it wants to make an extended run.

After being limited to only one run by Glenbard North ace Andrew Bergmann in a 2-1 loss on Monday, the Redhawks suffered yet another 2-1 setback on Wednesday in the final game of the DuPage Valley Conference season.

Josh Shine came around to score the eventual game-winning run in the fourth inning for the Panthers courtesy of a RBI single from Matt Frawley after reaching base courtesy of an error from Redhawks’ second baseman Ross Murphy, as Glenbard North (20-10, 14-7 DuPage Valley) won despite collecting only two hits.

In a script much like the one that played out on Monday, the Redhawks were unable to get the big hit off Frawley, Glenbard North’s starter, when they needed it most.

“It’s just mental toughness, really,” said Frawley, whose outing helped forge a second-place tie in the DVC between Naperville Central and Glenbard North. “You just got to bear down, do your job and in the back of your head say, ‘hey, this is fun.’ You got to want to go out and do it.”

Stranding five runners off Frawley, who fired a complete game and scattered seven hits while striking out three, the three men the Redhawks combined to leave on base in the fourth and sixth innings proved critical.

Conor Philbin began the fourth with a sharp single but was thrown out trying to steal prior to a double from Ian Lewandowski, who would later score on a RBI single from Jim Nashert and give the Redhawks a 1-0 lead. Despite getting three hits in the inning, they only managed the one run.

Trailing 2-1, Naperville Central (19-12, 14-7 DuPage Valley) had Frawley on the ropes once again in the sixth after a Philbin single and a Lewandowski double placed runners on second and third with one out, but Frawley induced Jake DeVoy to pop up to third on the first pitch and retired Nashert on a ground ball right back to him.

“Sixth inning, we’re down a run and we know we got to get on, so we do,” said Philbin, who finished 2-for-3, along with Lewandowski. “Jake comes up and he doesn’t get it done, but we were there. We were second-and-third with one out and that’s gonna bode well for us in the future. We just didn’t get it done (Wednesday).”

The Redhawks would place the potential tying run in scoring position in the seventh after Derrick Avers singled to begin the inning and was sacrificed to second, but Frawley ended the threat and the game by getting both Brian Schiemann and Nick Lopez to line out sharply to the outfield.

“I’m proud of these guys. These guys really battle. They really compete,” Naperville Central coach Bill Seiple said. … “It’s been a lot of fun. These guys have really gotten after it. “

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