Neuqua Valley senior Alex Voegele got into a tug of war with himself earlier this season.
Trying to work as both a position player and a pitcher, Voegele learned a bad day at the plate could lead to negative vibes on the mound, thus affecting his performance there as well.
It was time to take something off his plate.
“At some point, I just went to pitching,” Voegele said. “I just needed to focus on what I needed to do. As the season progressed, I got more consistent with my pitching. It’s a result of the whole season and learning from mistakes.”
All of those lessons culminated in Voegele’s signature performance during the Class 4A Neuqua Valley Regional championship game on Saturday.
Voegele sparkled in the 12th-seeded Wildcats’ 2-1 win against 14th-seeded West Aurora, allowing a run on three hits and three walks while striking out five over 6 1/3 innings.
Josh Repmann recorded the final two outs to earn the save for Neuqua Valley (16-19), which advances to the Class 4A Plainfield North Sectional semifinals to play top-seeded Downers Grove North (28-7) at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Second-seeded Waubonsie Valley (24-9) will play seventh-seeded Plainfield North (17-17) in the other semifinal.
Neuqua Valley coach James Thornton was happy to see all the adjustments Voegele, a Dominican University commit, made over the course of the season pay off in a big moment.
“This was his best game,” Thornton said. “He picked the right time. During the regular season, you just tinker with stuff. Then you get to the playoffs and say, ‘These are going to be our dogs. It’s win or go home. No more tinkering. Figure it out.’”
That’s the mentality Voegele adopted when he found out he was starting this game.
“At some point you have to realize that I’m out there to throw a ball,” Voegele said. “I just went out there and did whatever I could, and it was a good outing.”
West Aurora (13-19) had some traffic on the bases during the first two innings, but Voegele stranded two runners in each frame and then retired nine of the next 10 batters. Joe Barkley and Paul Feret each hit an RBI single for the Wildcats to put Voegele in control.
“After the back-to-back 1-2-3 innings, I felt so good,” Voegele said. “I went out there for the seventh but obviously wasn’t able to finish it out. It was nice to see the freshman go out there and get the win for us.”
Voegele allowed a walk and a single to lead off the seventh. He understood the decision to go to Repmann with the leading run at the plate.
“I had already thrown 100 pitches,” Voegele said. “Maybe going to a fresher arm is the right move.”
Voegele’s command of his off-speed pitches held West Aurora up throughout the game.
“He worked the outer third,” West Aurora coach John Reeves said. “He kept us off balance with the breaking pitches. That off-speed stuff gives high school hitters trouble. They get out on the front foot and pop up and get themselves out.”
Voegele said he and his teammates have put their collective struggles behind them.
“It definitely feels good after the ups and downs this season,” he said. “Coming in and taking the regional title just means a lot. It makes the whole season feel better. We had a losing record. So what? We won a regional title.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter.
