Baseball: Falcons Hang On For Dramatic Win

WHEATON – When Wheaton North’s baseball team roared to an 11-run lead on fellow DuPage Valley Conference contender Naperville Central Friday; a win seemed a foregone conclusion.

As it turned out, the Falcons needed every one of those runs to win.

The Redhawks chipped away to the point where they had the winning run on first base in the seventh inning. But Wheaton North coaxed a double play to end the game and escape with a wild 11-9 win.

“We had some real good performances at the plate today,” Wheaton North coach Dan Schoessling said. “The middle of the lineup really swung the bats well. That’s what you need if you’re going to beat good teams. As it turned out, we had just enough. It just goes to show you that you never know what might happen. They’re a very good team. If you give them just a little bit of room, they can hurt you. They showed that today.”

The dramatic seventh-inning finish seemed far off after three innings Friday. The Falcons (15-6 overall, 10-4 DVC) crushed Naperville Central (15-9, 10-5) early on. Jeff Schalk slugged a three-run home run as eight of the first nine batters in the first inning got hits. Seven of them scored.

Jake Schieber took over from there. He belted a solo home run in the second and then crushed another home run in the third, his eighth of the season. It was a three-run shot that pushed the lead to 11-0.

“I was just seeing the ball well today,” Schieber said. “I was seeing fastballs really well today, and that’s what I was jumping on. Recently, I’ve been waiting and missing on fastballs, but today I was really seeing them.”

The offense stalled from there, however. Central just started chipping away against Wheaton North starter Craig Berberich (5-1). Conor Philbin’s two-run triple in the fifth ended the Falcons’ chance at ending the game in five innings due to the mercy rule, keeping the Redhawks alive. Berberich left the game with an 11-5 lead after six innings.

“We know we can hit,” Philbin said. “No matter what the score was, we were going to keep chipping away. We know we can, that’s the thing. We don’t think we can score. We know we can get runs against any pitcher.”

Schoessling knew that hanging on to the win was crucial, and he proved it by going to star pitchers Ed Norris and Eric Scandora in the seventh. Norris got knocked around, however, allowing four runs while recording only one out. That brought Scandora out of the pen.

Scandora wound up coaxing a double play with one out and the bases loaded against Central No. 3 hitter Ian Lewandowski to end the game in dramatic fashion and give the Falcons two wins in three games this spring against the defending Class 4A state champions.

“We felt like we had to close that game out after having that lead,” Schoessling said. “I didn’t want to throw (Scandora) today, but we got to the point where we though now was the time to do it. He got it done, thankfully.”

The Falcons face another DVC contender, Glenbard North, Saturday, so the time to celebrate will be brief.

“I think winning a series against Naperville Central is big,” Schoessling said. “You know, defending state champs, they won our conference last year. We’re trying to do that this year. It’s still early, still a long way to go, but today was a big win.”