Graduation losses meant the opportunity existed this season to be Naperville Central’s ace. In the early going, Jared Suchevits has been just that.
Suchevits supported that theory Thursday against Waubonsie Valley. The junior right-hander pitched five scoreless inning as the Redhawks raced to an 11-3 DuPage Valley victory in Naperville.
“I was really determined to lock in on my spots and just trust my guys in the field because I knew they had my back,” Suchevits said. “Sam Hojnar — great game at short — definitely helped me out a lot. Everybody did.”
Suchevits (3-1) struck out a career-high six. He allowed just one hit on Nick Lamoso’s single in the third inning. Suchevits made the most of his 60 pitches.
“I felt the curveball,” he said. “The off-speed was definitely working. Change-up (on a) 3-1 (count) is a good pitch. Curveball felt sharp. Fastball up and in as well.
“The guys helped me out a lot by putting up a lot of runs. We really got after it.”
Naperville Central (8-3, 5-1) scored seven runs in the first three innings to seize control. Three runs apiece came in both the first and the third innings.
Junior infielders Payton Thorne and Hojnar each had two hits and combined for four RBIs and three runs.
“It was a good start for us at the plate,” said Thorne, who went 2-for-4 with a single, a double and three RBIs. “Got things going, got base runners, and we were able to get guys in. A good first few innings.”
Jake Klaft went 2 1/3 innings for Waubonsie (2-10, 1-5) and was charged with six earned runs on six hits to go with five walks.
Klaft (0-4) threw 84 pitches as the Redhawks made things tough.
“(Klaft) threw a lot of pitches to get through three innings,” Waubonsie coach Bryan Acevedo said. “Defensively, we didn’t help him out — a couple errors early — and (Naperville Central) put the ball in play. They were able to score some runs early and kind of jump on us.”
Ben Jaynes, Dan Esch and Alex Lemmons each delivered an RBI for the Warriors, who scored twice in the sixth and once in the seventh.
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“Hopefully with the weather we can start playing a little bit more consistent baseball,” Acevedo said. “That’s our goal right now is just to start doing the little things right.”
Blake Baumgartner is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.