Pitching has been the key to Waubonsie Valley’s hot start to the season, with big left-hander Brandon Petersen leading the way.
Petersen, an offensive lineman during football season, managed a 6-0 record as the number three starter as a sophomore. This season, he’s been even more dominant.
He’s 2-0 with 14 scoreless innings to start out his first season as the ace of the Warriors (7-2, 3-1).
“He’s been every bit as good as advertised,” first-year Waubonsie coach Bryan Acevedo said. “He did a good job of getting himself in shape.”
Newcomer Jason Neville is also 2-0, including a 2-0 shutout over Naperville Central. Through nine games, the Warriors have allowed only 16 runs, 10 of them coming in the two losses (an early 5-4 loss to St. Charles East and Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Huntley).
Offensively, senior Garret Howicz has led the way, hitting over .400 while taking on more of a starring role with stalwarts like Jack Eddy, Tyler Hasper, Drew Ellam and Ben Vietri, among others, moving on after graduation. Ryan Jones has also been hitting well, as has Petersen, who has gotten hot of late.
“We’ve been able to put some things together offensively,” Acevedo said. “Garret has done a real nice job for us. He put together a solid junior season as well. You could see it start to come. He had a great offseason.”
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The Warriors’ first Upstate Eight Valley series of the season was last week, and they cruised to a three-game sweep of East Aurora. They figure to get tested more this week, with three against South Elgin, a third-place state finisher last season.
“They had a great run and they return a lot of bats,” Acevedo said. “I’m looking forward to it. There are a lot of good teams on this side. It’s going to be a fight.”
Timberwolves streaking
Former Kane County Cougars pitcher Joe Piekarz took over an Indian Creek program five years ago that had never won a regional title and didn’t have any lower level teams.
Five years later, the Timberwolves still only field one team, but they are coming off their first-ever regional title, and their sights are set even higher.
The Timberwolves were off to a 7-1 start heading into the weekend, thanks in large part to the return of eight starters from last year’s team.
“We had a lot of experience coming back so we expected them to pick up where we left off last year,” Piekarz said. “We went through a couple of rough seasons. Last year, to be able to win the school’s first-ever regional and starting off this well, it’s been nice to see.”
Four-year starting pitchers David Boehne and Chris Pickwell have led the way, with fellow senior Jake Wieseler growing into his role as the closer. After dropping the season opener to Genoa-Kingston, Indian Creek has allowed 14 runs in seven wins.
“They have done a really nice job for us, giving us good, quality innings,” Piekarz said.
Eagles soaring
Prior to Saturday’s first loss of the season, 8-2 to Westminster Christian, Aurora Christian opened with 14 scoreless innings during a 2-0 start.
R.D. Lutze threw five scoreless innings, followed by two scoreless innings from Dustin Barrett, in a 5-0 win over Wilmington on Wednesday. Lutze (four innings) and Drew Wagner (three innings) combined to shut out Plano, 2-0, in the Eagles’ season opener.
Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.