Nathan Napolitano was excited, but also a bit nervous for his first varsity start for Waubonsie Valley.

After spending last season on the junior varsity team, the senior ended up getting the call to open the season on the mound against St. Charles East. And he made sure not to waste it.

Napolitano tossed four innings of one-run ball, while the junior duo of Scott Gillen and Shane Torres provided the offense to help the Warriors take home a 6-2 victory over the Saints to open their season.

“It was exciting in my first varsity start, especially to get it pitching,” Napolitano said. “It felt good getting out there. I was a little wild, but also once I found it, I was pretty good.”

Napolitano finished the game allowing just one hit and one unearned run for the Warriors (1-0). He also struck out four batters while walking three.

And after losing some potent arms to graduation from last season, Warriors head coach Bryan Acevedo was more than happy to see that sort of performance right away.

“The thing we loved about Nathan all offseason is that he just throws strikes,” Acevedo said. “That’s something that we preach, and so we wanted to give him the game ball in the first game and he did a good job.”

Napolitano wasn’t the only arm the Warriors tested out, with Cam Delahoussaye coming in relief to close out the game. In his first appearance since getting Tommy John surgery in October 2024, Delahoussaye allowed three hits and one run (zero earned) across three innings.

“He was someone that was with us all last season and just learned a lot being around it but unfortunately not being a part of it,” Acevedo said. “It was great to give him the ball with the lead and letting him figure it out a bit, but it was awesome to see him out there after a long journey.”

Gillen gave the Warriors the lead for good in the bottom of the second inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, the junior bounced a grounder through the middle of the infield that plated two runs to give them a 2-1 lead.

“I just knew I had to do a job there,” Gillen said. “I was just looking for a pitch in the strike zone and made contact to the right part of the field.”

Torres would drive him home five pitches later on a two-RBI double to make it 4-1. Gillen finished with a game-high three hits and scored twice, while Torres added an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“Scotty can play baseball a little bit and Shane just keeps getting better for us,” Acevedo said. “Those two at the top of the order are going to be pretty special for us this year. We’re fortunate that they’re both juniors and we’re looking for them both to have some big years, because if they can get going for us, then we’ve got a shout with our offense.”

The Saints (1-1) threatened to tie the contest in the seventh inning after loading up the bases with two outs and sent Niko Vahmistrous to the plate as the tying run. But a grounder to Delahoussaye was enough for the final out of the game.

“Even as off-balance as their pitchers kept us, we still fought and kept ourselves in the ball game,” Saints coach Derek Sutor said. “We found ourselves in a spot to make things happen in the seventh inning. It’s just that against a team like this, you can’t have those small mistakes early on to put you in a hole.”

Vahmistrous gave the Saints their lone lead of the game in the second inning after swiping home on a double steal to make it 1-0. Tyler Phillips added an extra run in the top of the sixth with an RBI single to score Andrew Evans. Kyle LaRose led the team with two hits.

“Our team has depth, and early on you see glimpses of the hitting and of the defense,” Sutor said. “Our strength so far has been our defense, and that’s something we wanted to pay attention to. Our hitting is there, our experience is there, and things will come together during the season.”