With the way Jason Neville has thrown for Waubonsie Valley this year, it can certainly appreciate good pitching.
What it saw Wednesday against Wheaton North would constitute as good pitching.
Led by left-hander Sam Lawrence on the hill while piecing together a three-run inning, Wheaton North put Waubonsie Valley’s outright DuPage Valley Conference title hopes on hold for one more day.
The Northwestern-bound Lawrence fanned 10 as the Falcons salvaged the third game of their series with the Warriors by claiming a 4-1 victory.
In his six innings, he issued six walks to go with the 10 strikeouts as he threw 114 pitches to turn back the Warriors (22-10, 16-8) repeatedly.
“We really needed this win to get us some momentum going into the playoffs,” Lawrence said. “And I was just trying to go out there and attack batters. And I was struggling at times, but I just kept battling out there and I just tried to make pitches the best that I could.
(Neville) really motivated me. I knew I had to make pitches and just go out there and try to get the win. Try to match his performance and do it better than he did. I think I did that.”
Relying on his curveball more than usual, Lawrence was effectively wild for Wheaton North as he only surrendered two hits.
Taking a no-hitter into the fifth, a Quinton Zielke two-out single put an end to that and Joey Spano would follow an inning later with a one-out single.
Able to work in and out of trouble because of the walks, Lawrence stranded seven of the 11 Warriors left on base.
“He was wildly effective,” Waubonsie Valley coach Bryan Acevedo said of Lawrence. “We helped him out by chasing balls out of the zone. But he’s a good pitcher and when you see guys like that, you can’t swing at stuff out of the zone because you make him better.”
In his first outing since throwing a complete game against Naperville North last week, one inning failed Alex Schram.
A day after Luke Gregorio’s two-run double proved vital in the Warriors’ one-run victory on Tuesday, the Falcons turned the tables with one out in the third.
Consecutive run-scoring doubles from Erik Mueller and Ryan Muehfelt gave Wheaton North a 2-1 lead, with a Pat Leahy RBI single following two batters later.
Schram (3-1) lasted into the fifth for Waubonsie Valley, giving up all four runs on nine hits. Other than the third, the junior right-hander continued his progress.
“They put the ball in play there and had a big inning,” Acevedo said. “And big innings usually win baseball games. We just weren’t able to hit our way back into it.”
Moving into the DVC after claiming a pair of Upstate Eight Valley titles the last two years, Acevedo knows they’ve accomplished something worthwhile – no matter what Naperville Central does Thursday.
“Without a doubt. We’re disappointed with the outcome (Wednesday), but to come back and win 10 out of 11 there to get a share of it at the very least – you can’t be disappointed with that,” he said. “Just a little disappointed with the way we played (Wednesday).”
