Naperville Central rolls into regional final

Pitching in pressure situations is something that has become very familiar to Naperville Central senior left-hander Dan Ludwig.

Being an integral part of long playoff runs in each of the past two seasons, Ludwig has a vast amount of experience to draw upon when he needs it most.

Unfazed by surrendering a two-run homer to Hinsdale Central senior catcher Pat Foley in the first inning and maneuvering out of jams in the latter stages of a tie game, Ludwig was his usual stout self when Naperville Central needed him the most on its way to securing an 8-3 victory over 18th-seeded Hinsdale Central in a Class 4A Hinsdale Central Regional semifinal on Wednesday.

In picking up his 23rd career victory, the 15th complete game of his career and his fifth career postseason victory, which places him one behind Kyle Kaminska for the program record, Ludwig (8-2) scattered nine hits and fanned nine.

“Nothing more than you can do than trust that from day one that we’ve been trained to do exactly just this — get ready for the playoff game,” said the Belmont University-bound Ludwig, who struck out eight Red Devils over the final three innings, including striking out the side in the sixth and seventh. “I know I’ll do my best, and I gotta trust that everyone else can do their best, which they came out and did their job.”

Senior designated hitter Jake DeVoy answered Foley’s home run with a three-run blast of his own off Hinsdale Central starter Sam Lucente in the first that marked the extent of the Redhawks’ offensive output until they exercised a familiar refrain five innings later.

“We heard their team chirping a lot, so we really wanted to get back and shut that down,” DeVoy said. “Kill the morale. … It was real good for the team just to have the lead.”

Following a similar script it used in earning postseason victories over Benet, Lockport and Plainfield North last season on its way to eventually capturing the Class 4A state crown, the sixth inning proved to be the impetus to get fourth-seeded Naperville Central (21-12) going offensively.

Batting around in the bottom of the sixth, the Redhawks broke open a 3-3 tie with a five-run outburst on five hits, including four consecutive singles.

Ross Murphy’s RBI single right back up the box off Lucente with two outs brought home Conor Philbin with the Redhawks’ fourth run of the game and they never looked back.

Jim Nashert backed up Murphy with a two-run single to right and Derrick Avers followed Nashert’s two-run single with an RBI single of his own.

A step away from the program’s 15th regional title, a win over most likely No. 5 Downers Grove South, ranked No. 2 in the preseason by most pundits, will be required on Saturday for the program to reach its third straight sectional.

“Downers (Grove South) has to beat Oswego East (Thursday) and they’re a terrific team. It’ll be a great challenge for us,” said Naperville Central coach Bill Seiple, whose team defeated the Mustangs, 10-2, in the summer state tournament last July behind Ludwig and a 3-for-4, five-RBI day from Nashert. “But we’re used to playing pretty good people and we’re not gonna back down.”

Despite being charged with six earned runs on just five hits in 5 2/3 innings, Lucente pitched quite well for the Red Devils (15-21), retiring 15 straight Redhawks at one point.

After Murphy singled with two outs in the first inning, Naperville Central’s offense didn’t get another hit off Lucente until Ian Lewandowski’s one-out single in the sixth.

“Sam Lucente is a fantastic kid. He’s a kid that I’ll put in any situation and know that he has the ability and the confidence to get the job done,” said first-year Hinsdale Central coach Justin Cronin, a 2001 Naperville Central alum. “He’s been kind of a spot-start guy for us. Threw a gem on Friday, and with the situation presenting itself, he got the call (Wednesday) and get exactly what we asked him to do.

“It’s a shame it got away there at the end because he really did deserve better.”

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