Bottom of the lineup sparks West

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CAROL STREAM -- It took one time through the batting order before West Aurora hitters solved Glenbard North pitcher Nick Mishevich.

Going to school on the crafty left-hander paid dividends in the fourth inning, when the Blackhawks scored six times on their way to a 7-3 victory over the Panthers in an opening-round game in the Class 4A St. Charles North Sectional.

The come-from-behind triumph enables 18th-seeded West (13-20) to advance to a Willowbrook Regional semifinal Wednesday in Villa Park against the sectional's No. 3 seed, Batavia. The Bulldogs defeated West Aurora 7-2 during the regular season.

Blackhawks starter Cory Walden settled down after giving up solo runs in the first two innings, scattering seven hits in a complete-game effort to improve to 6-4.

"Cory has struggled with his control lately, so we've been reminding him not to give free passes," West Aurora head coach John Reeves said. "His stuff can be overpowering, so if he does a good job of locating and not putting guys on base, that gives him a good shot to win. He certainly makes it interesting, beating up his catcher a bit, but it was a nice outing."

The bottom four hitters in the West order came up huge, with a combined seven hits, four runs scored and three RBIs.

Catcher Kyle Spooner got things going offensively in the third inning after the first six Blackhawks had been retired.

Spooner reached on a soft liner to right field. One out later, Jake Bauer lofted a fly ball that was misplayed by Panthers left fielder Steve Slobodecki. Greyson Reider, running for Spooner, scored all the way from first on what was ruled a double, cutting the North lead to 2-1.

That scoring was a prelude to the decisive fourth inning. Brady Renner beat out an infield hit, then reached third on a stolen base and overthrow. One out later, West Aurora strung together four straight hits to seize control of the game.

Chris Richter's ground-ball single to deep short scored Renner. Richter moved to third when sophomore Stevie Acevedo (2-for-4) hammered a double to the left-field fence. Hits by Spooner and Tom Martin plated Richter and Acevedo to give the Blackhawks a 4-2 lead.

Then Tony Gaffino had the big hit of the game, a two-run single to the gap in right center. When Glenbard North's center fielder had trouble retrieving the ball, Nate Strusz, who had walked to load the bases, scored all the way from first base to complete the West Aurora scoring.

"We've been relying a lot on the top of our order, so it was nice to get production out of the bottom," said Reeves of Acevedo, Spooner, Martin and Bauer. "With the wind blowing in from right, we did a nice job of adjusting and hitting hard grounders and line drives."

With the big lead, Walden took charge. Mixing his heater with curve balls and sliders, the senior struck out seven and walked two.

After being a little wild and suffering from some loose defensive play in the first two innings, he surrendered only a meaningless seventh-inning run.

He got out of a serious jam in the fifth inning by inducing a double-play grounder. Also, first baseman Brandon Lawrence made several good catches on errant Blackhawk infield throws to support Walden.

"After we scored some runs, I was really relaxed, focusing on throwing strikes and letting my defense back me up," said Walden.

Slobodecki and Steve Cocat had two hits each to lead No. 14 seed Glenbard North, which ended its season at 12-19.

Baseball: Class 4A Willowbrook Regional