Bad second inning sinks Warriors

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The "one bad inning" virus plagued the Waubonsie Valley baseball team at the worst time of the season -- in the regional final against Lockport.

The Porters scored all of their runs in the second inning and held off the Warriors' late run, as the No. 3 seeded Lockport beat the No. 11 seed Waubonsie Valley 4-2 Saturday in the Class 4A regional final at Plainfield South.

With their third consecutive regional win, the Porters improved to 26-11 and will take on Naperville Central back in Lockport in the sectional semifinal Thursday at 6 p.m.

Waubonsie Valley pitcher Kris Singh pitched the distance and ended up giving up just 5 hits -- 3 of which were doubles in that fatal second inning. The only two walks he gave up in the entire game were also in that inning. The two other hits were harmless singles in the first inning. After the second, he retired the final 12 batters, including a pair of strikeouts.

"Kris did a great job of keeping us in the game against a good team," Waubonsie Valley coach Dan Fezzuoglio said.

"I thought we got to (Singh) early, but then we just shut down," Lockport coach Steve Stanicek added.

Singh, the No. 9 batter, also helped his team at the plate, thanks to a leadoff solo home run to right field in the seventh that finally put the Warriors on the scoreboard. The next batter, leadoff man Jonny Strauss, mirrored Singh and also hit a solo shot -- this time to center field with no outs. Both homers were given up with just three pitches.

"We were just hoping to get something going there," Singh said.

Lockport starter pitcher Tyler Willis ended up giving up seven of Waubonsie Valley's eight total hits. Willis was pulled after the back-to-back home runs, only to have reliever Brandon Duplessis come in. He gave up a single to Sam Carius and fanned the final batter and ended the Warriors' attempt at a comeback.

"That's one thing they have done all year long -- they've never given up," Fezzuoglio said. "They battle until the last out. Out of our 15 losses, that's 12 losses by two or less. But a credit to them. They came back and always competed."

After starting the season 3-8, Waubonsie Valley will graduate eight seniors and capped the 2009 campaign 20-15.

"It was a successful season," Fezzuoglio said. "They never quit on us. They always played hard for us, and that's all we can ask for...I'm very proud of these guys."

"We had a slow start, but then started playing good baseball like we did in the summer," Singh added. "We were doing great toward the end of the season, so losing a game like this is tough."

Baseball: Class 4A Plainfield South Regional