Zac Bianucci hears the buzz.
As Naperville Central continues its push towards a DuPage Valley Conference title, Ryan Eiermann and Tyler Brinker have received much of the attention of late.
Bianucci is determined to not get lost in the Redhawks’ pitching conversation.
With the help of an eight-run third inning, Bianucci tossed a complete game as Naperville Central rolled to a 12-1, five-inning DuPage Valley Conference victory over Wheaton Warrenville South on Wednesday.
The Michigan State-bound lefty scattered four hits and struck out five with a Paul Monaco second-inning RBI single the only run the Tigers got off him.
“I thought my fastball felt really good,” said Bianucci, who improved his record to 3-2. “My curveball, for the most part, I thought it was looking good. It’s location for me. Just got to throw strikes and I’ll be good.”
He has lowered his ERA from 4.10 as far back to April 12 to 3.11 as he has allowed just four earned runs in his last 11 1/3 innings.
“It was just a confidence thing for me,” Bianucci said. “I had to get my confidence back on the mound. I just changed a little bit of my delivery and I’m feeling real good up there.
“I’m real happy for Ryan and Tyler. We just got to keep winning. I want to do my part, be in the mix for that.”
Given a second look at Tigers’ sophomore Caleb Larson, the Redhawks (19-4, 13-2) fared much better in running their winning streak to 10 while holding a three-game lead in the DVC.
Five days after Larson threw six innings of one-run ball at the Redhawks, they peppered him for 10 runs – four earned – on eight hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Noah Cinzio had two hits in the third, which saw 12 Naperville Central hitters come to hit, as five players accounted for RBI during the eight-run inning.
Beau Buchanan’s RBI single which gave the Redhawks a 7-1 lead at the time was the first of three straight run-scoring hits – followed by a two-run double from Conor Joyce and a Cinzio RBI single.
“I think just seeing (Larson) that first time through the order,” said Michael Nerger, who went 2-for-2 with a RBI and scored three runs. “He had us a little bit. We didn’t do too much. Then seeing him again, we kind of caught on. We knew he was going to be working that outside part of the plate. We just attacked it and drove the ball all over the field.”
Buchanan, Cinzio, Nerger and Austin Sherman each had two hits apiece for the Redhawks while six players knocked in at least one run – led by Joyce’s three.
Armed with a three-game lead over Lake Park in the loss column with nine games to play, the DVC title may be starting to become a sight out in the horizon for Naperville Central.
Not running away from that goal, it knows work still remains.
“We’ve been talking about it since we met (at the start of the year),” Naperville Central coach Mike Stock said. “Our plan was to compete and try to win the conference. So we’re not shying away from that at all.
“But it’s just, right now, this group is having a lot of fun and we’re not going to skip a step and we can’t. We got three big series (left).”
