Naperville Central junior Ryan Pall has seen action at first base and catcher and has gotten at-bats at several spots in the batting order.
On Monday, coach Mike Stock had Pall batting fourth.
“This might be my first game batting cleanup,” Pall said.
It probably won’t be his last. Pall reached base all four times up, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBIs, in the opener of a three-game series against crosstown rival Naperville North.
Pall finished the game with a literal blast, launching a walk-off three-run home run to give the host Redhawks a come-from-behind 8-5 DuPage Valley Conference victory.
“It felt perfect off my bat,” he said. “I wanted to help my team get the win, so it meant a lot to me.”
It was the first walk-off home run for Pall, a varsity rookie who didn’t homer in the first 15 games of the season but has gone deep in back-to-back games. His first gave the Redhawks (12-5, 3-1) an 8-0 lead against Neuqua Valley in a game they eventually won 8-6 on Saturday.
“Ryan is a kid who we were real excited about all year,” Stock said. “He had a solid start, and then he hit a little lull.
“But he’s a competitor. He got a big hit for us against Hinsdale Central, and since then we can’t get him out of the lineup.”
Naperville North (4-9, 2-2) couldn’t get Pall out at all. After drawing a walk in his first plate appearance, he came through with two-out RBI singles in his next two at-bats.
The second hit was part of a three-run fifth inning in which he scored the tying run on a throwing error. That came after the Huskies had scored three unearned runs in the top of the inning to grab a 5-2 lead.
“He had two two-out hits today and then a walk-off home run, correct?” Stock said. “On occasion, he can look bad on a pitch, and it won’t bother him the next pitch at all. He just really bounces back. He’s been rock solid.”
Which is why the Redhawks were buzzing with anticipation when the bottom of the seventh rolled around. Senior shortstop Cooper Page, who went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, led off with a seeing-eye single up the middle.
After the next batter struck out, senior third baseman Grant Umbright smashed a single that nearly knocked off the third baseman’s glove before hurtling into left field.
“I was just looking for my first pitch to hit,” Umbright said. “Whatever I saw in the zone I was going to try and take it.
“I was looking pull side there because that’s what I was doing most of the game, so I was trying to elevate. Didn’t elevate, but I hit it hard enough to where it got by him. It was a nice hit.”
That set the stage nicely for Pall, who quickly fell into an 0-2 hole. Umbright, a John A. Logan commit, still had total confidence in Pall, who drilled the next pitch far over the left-field fence.
“I saw the ball go off his bat, and I already knew it was gone,” Umbright said. “It was a no-doubter.”
But it came on a pitch Pall wasn’t expecting.
“I was actually looking for an off-speed,” he said. “But I can’t give up a high fastball.”
The Redhawks mobbed Pall after he crossed home plate, dragging him to the backstop and tackling him.
“Tie game against our conference rival, first and second and one out, and he came through,” Umbright said. “It’s got to feel good. It was great. It’s nice to see a junior can do that for us.”
Pall’s home run put an exclamation point on a victory that was anything but smooth. The two teams combined for nine errors, and only one of the Huskies’ runs was earned.
Naperville Central sophomore Landon Connolly made his varsity debut and allowed one earned run and four hits in four innings. The Huskies then benefited from three errors to score three runs off sophomore reliever Lucas Wallace before senior Ryan Gervase pitched two scoreless innings to get the win.
“I think our two-out hits and our pitchers battling on the mound helped us out,” Pall said. “We weren’t helping them a whole lot out there, but they pulled it out.”
Will Pall remain in the cleanup spot?
“I hope so,” he said. “I love batting cleanup.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
