By Drake Skleba

 

PALATINE - For Naperville Central head coach Bill Seiple, his 29^th season-opener started very well, thank you, and closed a bit too close for comfort. The top-ranked Redhawks, behind the pitching of senior left-handed ace Shane Conlon and junior left-hander Dan Ludwig, rolled to a 7-0 lead after six innings.

 

No. 44 Fremd mounted a seventh-inning uprising, scoring four times against Ludwig, before falling 7-4. Ludwig picked up his sixth strikeout to end the game with two runners on base and the tying run at the plate.

 

“Good start. We got it behind us and it was a good win,” said Seiple. “Shane pitched great for us and Luddy (Dan Ludwig) had to pitch through that rough last inning for us. Fremd will be very good  and Clint Terry is a quality pitcher. We hit the ball well and I’m really happy with this victory.”

 

Naperville Central (1-0) gave Conlon a 2-0 lead in the first. The Redhawks were aided by three Viking miscues in the field and three walks by Terry, scoring twice on only one hit.

 

The Kansas State-bound Conlon fired four shutout innings, allowing just a pair of singles and striking out five. The left-hander did not walk a batter.

 

“I felt really great in the bullpen. I had to adjust a little in the first inning,” said Conlon.  “After the first inning, I felt great and it felt like an 80-degree day out there on the mound. We played great defense and we beat a tough pitcher in (Clint) Terry.”

 

In the top of the fifth, the top-ranked ‘Hawks erupted for four runs, knocking out Terry(4.1 IP, 5R, 3H, 4ER, 6K, 5BB). Senior CF Matt Cmiel (2-for-4, 2B, RBI),  senior 1B Bobby Czarnowski (2-for-4, 2RBI) and senior DH Mason Hallett (1-for-2, BB, HBP, 2RBI) provided RBI singles.

 

“We all hit the ball very well today,” said Hallett. “We work very hard on our hitting and we were rewarded today for our hard work.”

 

Naperville Central leadoff man, senior LF Ben Lucas (1-for-3, 2R, 2SB), ignited the first and fifth inning rallies. Senior 3B Marc Mantucca was on base three times with a single and a pair of walks and tallied a pair of runs.

 

“I hit the ball well today, especially the big hit in the fifth,” said Czarnowski. “We beat a good pitcher and I believe we are going to see a lot of good pitchers this season.”

 

Naperville Central’s Ludwig relieved Conlon in the fifth and was lights out. Ludwig proceeded to strike out five consecutive Viking hitters. Ludwig struck out the last two in the fifth and then struck out the side in the sixth.

 

Fremd erupted for four runs in the last of the seventh. Junior pinch-hitter Kurt Kaufman doubled home the first Viking run of the game. Junior SS Mike Risher (1-for-2, RBI) and senior P Matt Koeppen added RBI singles to bring the Vikings within three at 7-4.

 

Fremd falls to 0-3 on the season and Terry suffers his second defeat of 2010.

 

“I am proud of the way we battled back today,’ said Fremd head coach Chris Piggott. “We faced a very good pitcher in (Shane) Conlon. We can’t make mistakes like we did in the first inning and expect to win against quality teams. We must improve our defense.”