Sometimes you just need to take what you’re given.
Blake Nicolls proved that lesson on Tuesday against Naperville Central.
With the home-plate umpire giving him a wide corner, Nicolls seized control as sixth-seeded Metea Valley ousted third-seeded Naperville Central, 4-2, in the Hinsdale South Regional of the Phil Lawler Summer Classic.
Against the senior right-hander, the Redhawks (13-5-3) managed just two hits while striking out eight times.
“My off-speed was working really well,” said Nicolls, who had a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the second and the third. “The ump was giving me the outside corner a lot. So I just focused on throwing it outside and low and I was able to get them out.”
Nicolls’ sacrifice fly to center in the top of the first after Blake Honda and Conner Lovely began the game with singles off Charlie Walzer gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.
Two innings later, Nicolls’ two-out single and Anthony Greco’s two-run homer to left off Walzer gave Metea Valley a 4-0 lead in the third.
“I was just looking for a fastball,” Greco said of the two-run homer. “It was in the inner part of the plate. I just thought I could put a good swing on it.”
In their first two games in the summer state tournament, the Mustangs have outscored Bolingbrook and Naperville Central by a combined margin of 14-2, with Joey Coryell and Nicolls picking up victories.
“It’s very important,” Nicolls said of sustaining momentum from Monday’s 10-0 shutout of Bolingbrook. “To keep them to zero runs through five innings, it’s a huge momentum builder for us and then when Anthony hit the home run, too, it just gives us a lot of momentum.”
Sixth-seeded Metea Valley advances to play 10th-seeded Benet, a 5-0 winner over 15th-seeded Romeoville, on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
The Mustangs made the most out of their five hits with Redhawks’ senior lefty Zac Bianucci throwing four innings in relief of Walzer and finding a groove.
Bianucci struck out nine in his four innings as he tried his best to keep Naperville Central in it as its offense was having problems with Nicolls and Mitch Reyes.
“Charlie did a great job,” Bianucci said. “Just had to make sure that (I) kept us in it. I just had to do my job. Keep the ball low. Make sure I got hitters out.”
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Noah Cinzio’s two-run homer to left off Reyes finally got the Redhawks on the scoreboard.
But stranding six runners, including two in both the first and the fifth, proved too difficult for Naperville Central’s offense to overcome.
“That ump was giving him the outside corner a little bit and he just kept pecking away at it,” Redhawks senior second baseman Beau Buchanan said of Nicolls. “It took us a while to adjust to it. Once we did, we started seeing some results and it was just too little, too late.”
