Waubonsie starts slow, finishes slower

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AURORA -- Neuqua Valley swept District 204 rival Waubonsie Valley in a doubleheader Saturday in Aurora, taking the first game 11-8 and the second 12-1.

Game 2 was shortened to five innings because of the 10-run rule.

In Game 1, the Wildcats scored four in the top of the fifth to break it open. Neuqua (16-3, 12-1 Upstate Eight Conference) also got four runs in the first. After Chris Kruppe singled, center fielder Ian Krol followed with one of his two doubles on the day, bringing Kruppe in. Shortstop Travis Weldon knocked in Krol with a single. Three batters later, with two on, left fielder Jason David singled to right to push across two more.

"The rough start, it (stinks) to start out that way," said Waubonsie pitcher Pat Murphy, who took the loss. "It slowed down a little bit and I kept it under control after that."

The Warriors (7-11, 5-7) immediately responded, loading the bases with no outs. Catcher Chris Galovic and designated hitter Kevin Kirchner both had RBI singles, closing the gap to 4-3.

Neuqua starting pitcher Mike McKinley then settled in as his curveball and changeup became sharper, giving up just one more run in the next four innings.

McKinley earned the victory, allowing four hits and striking out nine.

With Rob Skowronski on the mound for Neuqua, the Warriors scored four in the sixth to pull within 10-8.

"It's easy to roll over when you get down 4-0, 9-4; I give the kids credit and they continue to compete," Waubonsie coach Dan Fezzuoglio said. "The other thing is that we couldn't make big pitches when we needed to, and that was just the bugaboo today." Baseball: Neuqua Valley 11-12, Waubonsie Valley 8-1