Drake Skleba

WHEATON ? In a battle for first place in the DuPage Valley Conference, Wheaton North held off a valiant Naperville Central comeback bid and defeated the Redhawks 11-9. With the victory, Wheaton North (15-6; 10-4) vaulted into first place in the DVC, a half game ahead of Naperville Central (15-9; 10-5).

Wheaton North junior RF Jake Schieber led the Falcons? 12-hit attack with three hits, including his seventh and eighth homers of the season, and four RBI.

The Falcons scored seven times in the first inning to grab a quick 7-0 lead after one inning. UAB-bound Falcon 1B Jeff Schalk hammered a three-run bomb, his first homer of 2011, to put the Falcons up 3-0. Sophomore 3B Joe Peltz plated two Falcon runs with a single and No. 9 hitter Ed Norris had an RBI single in the seven-run Falcon first.

?It was good to finally hit one,? said Schalk. ?I have been really struggling this season. This was a prestige win for us, finally beating Central in a DVC series.?

In the second, Schieber hit his first homer, a solo shot to put the Falcons up 8-0.

In the third, Schieber went deep with two Falcons on, to extend the Falcons lead to 11-0 after three.

?We really have a powerful hitting team and when we hit we can beat anyone,? said Schieber. ?I had one of the best days of my career. I was seeing the fastball very well.? 

Game over, right? The valiant defending Class 4A champs from Naperville Central didn?t thinks so.

The Redhawks scored one in the fourth and three in the fifth to close to 11-4. Redhawk senior LF Conor Philbin (4-for-5, 3B, 4 RBI) doubled home a pair to highlight the three-run fifth.

Naperville Central tacked on a run in the sixth to close to 11-5.

Wheaton North head coach Dan Schoessling went to his pen, replacing starting and winning pitcher senior RHP Craig Berberich (4-1). Schoessling brought in SS/RHP Ed Norris to pitch the seventh.

Naperville Central scored three times to close to 11-8. RBIs were provided by junior Jimmy Nashert (2-for-4, RBI), junior C Byron Schiemann, and junior Bryce Kirk. With a 3-2 count on leadoff man Ross Murphy, Shoessling removed Norris for Falcon ace RHP Eric Scandora. Scandora would walk Murphy and give up an RBI single for Philbin, closing the Falcon lead to 11-9.

With the bases loaded and one out, Scandora induced Redhawk junior 1B Ian Lewandowski to hit a roller to Falcon sophomore third baseman Peltz. Peltz knocked the ball down, stepped on third and fired across the diamond to nail Lewandowski, on a bang-bang play at first, to end this thriller.

?Naperville Central is a very good team,? said Schoessling. ?We gave them some room and they took advantage of it. We hit the ball well, throughout the lineup today and Jake (Schieber) had a great day at the plate.?