DARIEN, IL - In a Sectional Semifinal game held at Hinsdale South, a gutsy performance by reliever Andrew Churchman, helped lead No. 2 Neuqua Valley past Plainfield Central 5-2 in a rain shortened, 5.5 inning game.

The Wildcats of Plainfield Central (24-10) trailed 4-0 entering the top of the fourth inning with the rain beginning to pour down. The mound began to get slick, along with the ball and Plainfield Central took advantage. They drew four walks and mixed in a single, ultimately loading the bases with two outs, trailing 4-2. That is when Neuqua (31-3) turned to Churchman, a senior right-handed pitcher. Churchman induced the very first batter he faced to groundout to third, working out of the jam. Churchman then proceeded to strike out the side, all in the looking variety, in the next frame. In his final frame, he gave up a double down the right-field line  to lead off the inning and then proceeded to shut down any thought of a rally, striking out the next three batters. When all was said and done, Churchman picked up the save going 2.1 innings pitched, giving up one hit, no runs and striking out six. Churchman, not overpowering, showed three pitches for a strike, mainly keeping hitters off balance with his changeup and then painting the outside corner with his fastball with two strikes. Neuqua leaned on Churchman during a tough situation, in extremely tough conditions and the senior delivered.

Neuqua jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, scoring two runs in the second and two more in the third. Jake Wenz delivered a clutch, two out, two-run double in the second inning. In the third, Evan Ranneklev singled and later scored. Jack Rigoni reached on an error and came all the way around to score later in the frame on a wild pitch.

Noah Herdman gave Neuqua an insurance run, hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, extending the lead to 5-2. Neuqua starter Ricky Castro, who picked up the win, was cruising until the heavy rains came in the fourth. Early on the Parkland JC commit, was sitting 87-89 mph and touched 90 once. He flashed an above-average three-pitch repertoire and gained more and more feel for his curveball as the game progressed. Castro struck out four and gave up two earned runs in his 3.2 innings of work.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the unrelenting rain that had been coming down for well over half the game, finally forced the umpires to call the game. The game was considered official and Neuqua advanced by the score of 5-2. Charlie Bischoff, Jake Donahue and Jac Lindish accounted for Plainfield Central’s three hits in the loss.

With the win Neuqua Valley will face the winner of Plainfield North/Plainfield East on Saturday for the Sectional Championship.

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

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