Above: Naperville Central sophomore left-hander Ryan Eiermann delivers a pitch during Redhawks’ 11-2 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South on May 19, 2015.
As any pitcher or coach will tell you, there’s a line between being considered a thrower and a pitcher.
For Ryan Eiermann, that transition is ongoing and has been become more evident over his last two starts.
Already having faced an opponent for a second time when he beat Naperville North last Thursday, Eiermann faced that challenge head on for a second straight start on Tuesday at Wheaton Warrenville South.
Eiermann’s six innings on the mound, coupled with a pair of five-run innings, helped lead the way for Naperville Central to a 11-2 victory over the Tigers, completing DuPage Valley Conference play for the year with a flourish.
On his way to improving to 7-0 on the season, Eiermann struck out seven and scattered six hits for the Redhawks (17-13, 11-9) as they won all four meetings this season with the Tigers (12-19, 10-10).
“Not really (worried about seeing a team for a second time in a second straight start),” Eiermann said. “(The Tigers) just knew what I had. And so, this time around, they were able to come up to it and were able to hit the ball and hit it hard and it worked.”
Thanks to Jack Zuback executing a suicide squeeze to perfection after the Tigers loaded the bases with one out in the third, Eiermann allowed his first earned run of the year.
Eiermann responded by striking out Justin Kelly and getting Austin Polezoes to pop up in the infield to keep the Redhawk deficit at just 1-0.
The run he gave up in the bottom of the third snapped his streak without allowing an earned run at 54 innings.
“He battles,” Naperville Central coach Mike Stock said of Eiermann, who has 95 strikeouts and a miniscule 0.12 ERA through 58 innings. “It’s kind of redundant. He competes. I was real impressed. He threw some off-speed stuff and got some fly balls and some ground balls. I wish we could’ve made the plays earlier.
“Only time he got in trouble (in the third) was a ball up the middle and several bunts. I loved the at-bat against (Justin) Kelly, their great hitter. (Eiermann) strikes him out with one out, bases loaded. It’s not an easy thing to do. I thought (Eiermann) did a great job again.”
Naperville Central batted around against Tigers’ starter Chris Simpson during a five-run fourth that saw four players—Beau Buchanan, Logan Muckenhirn, Mack Heatherly and Connor Gurnik—knock in runs.
With his three hits and three RBIs, Heatherly highlighted a 14-hit attack for the Redhawks, who got hits from nine players and at least two hits from the four players who knocked in runs in the third to support Eiermann.
“I thought it was finally nice (to get going at the plate a little bit),” said Heatherly, who added a two-run double during a five-run seventh in for good measure. “I’ve struggled this year and I’ve certainly felt like I’ve not been contributing as much as I could’ve. I thought (Tuesday) was just a new day. … I needed to change something (after not playing Sunday against Lake Park), so I changed it and the results were good.”
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