In the first game of a DuPage Conference series, No. 9 Neuqua Valley breezed past No. 11 Metea Valley 10-0 in six innings. The Wildcats of Neuqua got a strong start from senior RHP Anthony Sterchele and never looked back.

Sterchele, a Santa Fe JC commit, ranked No. 52 in the Illinois’ 2019 class, cruised in his six innings of work behind a fastball that sat 86-88 mph early and settled in at 85-87. Sterchele occasionally mixed in a mid-70’s breaking ball to keep hitters honest and only saw a runner on third base one time in the game. In the win, Sterchele allowed one hit, no runs, struck out two and walked three, one intentionally.

The Neuqua Valley (15-4) offense did the rest as they pounded out 13 hits and were helped by a number of Metea defensive miscues. The Wildcats, who led 2-0 heading into the fourth inning, put the game away for good, scoring four in the fourth and four more in the sixth.

Of all the impressive offensive performances for Neuqua, it was Nolan Clifford, Nick Taylor, Mitch Rokosz and Kevin Butler that did the most damage. Clifford, a Creighton commit, went 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBI and a stolen base. Taylor went 3-for-5 with an RBI and run scored. Rokosz reached in all four plate appearances, finishing 2-for-3, with two runs, a stolen base and a walk. Butler went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.

Metea (16-2), who is a much better club than today’s game indicated, lost for only the second time this season. Dylan Wrona led the way for Metea reaching base in both of his plate appearances, finishing 1-for-1 with a sharp line-drive to right field and a walk. Metea starter, junior LHP Jack Belskis battled despite not getting a lot of help from his defense. Belskis went four innings, scattered eight hits, six runs, only one earned, struck out three and did not walk a batter. Belskis threw 67% of his 91 total pitches for strikes.

For more in-depth notes from the games - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog.

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