No. 23 Lincoln-Way North wins a wild one

By Drake Skleba

FRANKFORT - In a battle of the top two teams in the Southwest Suburban Conference Red Division, No. 23 Lincoln-Way North won a wild 4-3 thriller over second-place Andrew. So wild, in fact, the Phoenix won the game on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh. With the win, Lincoln-Way North (19-3; 9-1) opens up a two-game lead over Andrew (17-7; 7-3) with four games to play.

The Phoenix went to the home half of the seventh all even at 3. Senior CF Mark Hein (2-for-4, R, GWR) had a tremendous battle at the plate, with Andrew junior reliever RHP Marcus Radz (4-1). Repeatedly spoiling Radz?s pitches, Hein finally stroked a 3-2 pitch into right field for his second hit of the game.

?Great win for us,? said Hein. ?I have been very confident at the plate this year.?

With Phoenix senior catcher A.J. Neufeld at the plate, Radz uncorked a wild pitch, advancing Hein to second. With first base open, Andrew head coach Dave DeHaan intentionally walked Neufeld (2-for-3, BB, RBI). Radz retired Phoenix senior 3B Alex Eaton (1-for-4, RBI) on a fly to center. Senior 1B Brandon Collins singled to load the bases. With junior SS Jack Troike at the plate, Radz uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning and Hein scampered home with the Phoenix game-winner.

?Dom (Paolella) pitched well for us,? said Neufeld. ?He did a great job and went all seven for us. His best pitch was his curve ball. I did pretty well at the plate. I waited back and got a couple of hits.?

The game started out as a classic pitchers? duel between Andrew?s senior RHP Dan Truesdale and L-W North?s senior RHP Dominic Paolella. Through the first four innings, both pitchers had put goose eggs up on the board. Paolella had given up a pair of hits and Truesdale had given up only one.

In the top of the fifth, Andrew picked up a run on an RBI double by senior CF Nick DeBenedetti.

L-W North answered back, with a three spot in the bottom of the fifth. Phoenix No. 9 hitter, senior RF Colin Hannigan, ripped an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. With two out, Neufeld and Eaton came up with clutch two-out RBI singles to give the Phoenix a 3-1 lead.

Andrew answered with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the sixth. T-Bolt senior 1B Chris Gomulka drove home the T-Bolts second run of the game with an RBI single. The T-Bolts would tie at 3 on an RBI ground out by senior 2B Phil Bria.

Paolella (6-1) was magnificent on the mound for the Phoenix, firing a five-hitter at the hard-hitting T-Bolts. Paolella struck out five and allowed one earned run.

?This win put?s us up two games. We just have to keep winning,? said Paolella. ?I had some problems keeping the ball down today. When I did, I was very effective.?

Andrew has a pair of remaining SSC-Red match-ups with Thornridge and Thorwood, each.

Lincoln-Way North will meet rival Lincoln-Way West (15-7; 6-4) on Wednesday at West, and back here at North, under the lights at 7 on Thursday night.

The Phoenix close out SSC-Red play with a pair of games with Thornton next week.

?Well fought victory today,? said Lincoln-Way North head coach Joe Skarbek. ?Andrew has a lot of heart and really battled us today. Dominc (Paolella) isn?t over-powering and he?s not going to strike everybody out but he gets a lot of swings and misses and softly hit balls. He really battles for us. Mark Hein had a great day for us at the plate. I wanted to see A.J. be the hero, but Andrew wouldn?t let him beat them.?