Brodie Farrell’s walk-off homer delivers DeKalb win over Naperville Central

DeKALB – Jackson Kees saw a first-pitch slider from Naperville Central reliever Ryan Marker in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Standing in the on-deck circle at the time, DeKalb cleanup hitter Brodie Farrell decided he was going to expect a first-pitch slider.

He got it.

Farrell launched the ball over the fence in left-center, breaking a tie and giving the Barbs a 4-3 win against the Redhawks in the opening game of a DuPage Valley Conference series Monday.

“He threw Jackson a slider first pitch, so I told myself I was going to sit on that,” Farrell said. “He threw me it, I saw it well, and I hit it.”

Naperville Central tied the score at 3 in the top of the sixth. Chase Reeder, the starting pitcher for the Redhawks (11-10, 3-4 DVC), hit a double and scored on a single by Roan Orlanes. Michael Page reached on an error and scored on a wild pitch.

But Farrell, the starter for the Barbs (16-4-1, 5-2), struck out the last three Naperville Central batters, putting him at 12 strikeouts in the game. He was lifted for a reliever to start the seventh.

“We needed to get more there,” Naperville Central coach Mike Stock said. “It was a situation we needed more, we didn’t get more.

The Redhawks also had two runners on to start the second, but Farrell got a pair of strikeouts that frame and DeKalb escaped with a 2-1 lead.

“We struck out in some situations we can’t strike out,” Stock said. “That was the difference in the game.”

Isaac Black had an RBI single as part of a two-run first. Cole Latimer and Kees hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth to push the DeKalb lead to 3-1.

Until the sixth, it looked like that’s all Farrell would need. But thanks to strikeouts of the last three batters, he was able to keep the game tied for when the Barbs batted in their half of the sixth and Hunter Kriese came on to pitch the seventh.

“That sixth inning played tricks on us a little bit,” DeKalb coach Josh Latimer said. “But Brodie was able to get out of that, and Hunter did a phenomenal job there in the seventh inning.”

Kriese gave up a one-out single in the seventh to Troy Kashul. He advanced on a wild pitch to second, then the Barbs intentionally walked Reeder, who had doubled in two straight at-bats.

The move paid off as Page grounded into a double play.

“All my pitches were working,” Farrell said. “It was pretty good. Changeup was really good today and I feel like my fastball is my best pitch right now. It’s always working. I need to find the zone a little bit more, but it’s still working pretty well right now.”

Reeder allowed three runs, two earned, in five innings. He allowed seven hits, one walk and didn’t strike anyone out.

The Redhawks had five hits in the game, and Reeder had the only two extra-base hits.

“He throws three pitches over the plate,” Stock said. “He competes. You see how he competes at the plate, too. He’s a senior leader and he’s leading us.”

Kees and Black each had two of DeKalb’s nine hits.

Farrell was 0 for 3 before his home run. He said the key in that situation is to stay confident and stay loose, not focusing on earlier at-bats.

“I told him, ‘I know you’re frustrated with your hitting,’” Latimer said. “But I said, ‘I need you to pitch and I know you’re going to come up big today at the plate. I don’t know which at-bat it is, but you’re going to come up big.’ And he did right there in the seventh inning.”

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