Even standing 6-foot-3, Naperville North’s Luke Wagner felt virtually powerless to do anything about the strong and ferocious winds that gusted up to 35 mph.
The junior right-hander experienced the distinctive rush of a brutal sideways blast Thursday afternoon, but it had nothing to do at all with a home run.
The natural narrative was to think about repercussions on hitters and what conditions meant to the physical trajectory of the ball, but this was true mound madness.
“Sometimes,” Wagner said afterward, “I just stopped as I was standing on the mound because the wind just pushed me off a little bit.”
Strategically, the game turned on the response of a combined six pitchers.
Wagner, who struck out four in four innings, earned the win as the host Huskies held on for a 9-6 DuPage Valley Conference victory over Neuqua Valley.
“I just tried to work my pitches off when the wind was the strongest,” said Wagner, who only allowed one run and one walk. “I definitely had to switch it up a lot depending on what the wind was doing.
“The biggest decision I had to make was the change between speed and half speed.”
On a typical day, Wagner would look to overpower opposing hitters. Throwing into the teeth of the wind restricted that option.
“My curve was finishing really good on the outside,” Wagner said.
That helped Naperville North (6-2, 2-1) take the rubber match in the three-game series with Neuqua (3-4-1, 1-2).
The wind also influenced the dramatic, walk-off grand slam by senior shortstop Patrick Graham in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Graham’s second home run of the season put the finishing touches on an unpredictable game that featured four lead changes and two ties.
“It was a fastball and I was waiting on it,” said Graham, who was facing a 3-1 count. “I knew it was coming. I knew there was no way he was going to throw an off-speed pitch and risk walking in the tying run in that situation.
“We talked before the game even started to just get the ball in the air and let the wind carry it.”
Junior reliever Tyler Vorwick learned that lesson right away for the Huskies.
“I think the wind caught me completely off guard when I came into the game,” Vorwick said. “There were times when I just wanted to wait for the wind to calm down.”
Especially when Colin Lewandowski led off the third inning with a home run, giving Neuqua a 5-2 lead.
“I just felt a lot more comfortable throwing the fastball because I could control it better,” Vorwick said.
Vorwick, who gave up three runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three, figured out how to adjust on the fly.
“You never want to risk your curve hanging like that,” Vorwick said. “Which is what happened on that pitch to Colin.”
Neuqua starter Dan Cercello and Sean Shannon combined to throw 7 2/3 innings. Cercello, a lanky and angular sophomore, struck out three.
“You always want to throw with the wind and that wind was just stopping the fastball cold,” Cercello said of his second career start. “I’m typically a velocity thrower, but I had to focus on my accuracy.
“I was out there looking to have some fun. It’s sad we lost.”
Shannon, a senior, worked 4 2/3 innings. He deftly mixed speeds, keeping the Huskies off balance. He had a strikeout and a walk.
“You had to really be careful with the off-speed pitches because of how they broke,” Shannon said. “I just wanted to pound the strike zone.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.