Creighton commit Ava Drehs closes the door on Oswego East comeback, sends Neuqua Valley into regional final

OSWEGO – Ava Drehs did not let a premature celebration prevent her from finishing the job Wednesday.

Neuqua Valley’s senior pitcher, a Creighton commit, hopped out of the circle with two out in the seventh inning for a called third strike that never came.

“I thought it was a strike and I was hyped. I kept waiting for the umpire’s arm to go up and it wasn’t and I was like ‘Oh God, now I need to actually lock in and actually strike this girl out,’” Drehs said. “It would be embarrassing if I got so excited and it wasn’t even an out.”

Drehs didn’t let that happen.

She got the game-ending strikeout on the at bat’s eighth pitch, and struck out the side to shut the door on an Oswego East rally. Neuqua Valley scored two runs in the sixth and four in the seventh, and Drehs made the lead stand for a 7-4 win in the Class 4A Oswego East Regional semifinal.

Drehs, Neuqua’s career and single-season strikeout record holder, only struck out seven while scattering seven hits.

But she dialed it in late, striking out three consecutive batters after Danielle Stone had doubled in two runs.

“I kept trying to stay level, did what I could do,” Drehs said. “Toward the end of the game we started incorporating more changeups. Last inning I was able to lock it down.”

Cora Dickson had three hits and three RBIs, Krista Waldusky three hits and an RBI and Nalia Clifford two hits and two runs scored for Neuqua (18-14), which advanced to face top seed Oswego in Friday’s regional final.

Stone had three hits, a run scored and the two RBIs, Olivia Owles two hits and two runs scored and Ryenne Sinta two RBIs for Oswego East (20-15).

The Wolves saw a 2-1 lead disappear with Neuqua’s two runs in the sixth and four in the seventh. But they kept coming, with Owles, Katie Maday and Stone reaching base to start the seventh.

“And that’s all I can ask for,” Oswego East coach Sarah Davies said. “Whatever you can do, now is the time to do it, lay it all out there. We were putting the bat on the ball all game.”

The best example of that came on Sinta’s go-ahead single in the fifth. She ran the count full, fouled off four pitches, then on the 10th pitch lined a single to center to score Stone to make it 2-1.

Davies, tearing up, couldn’t say enough about her senior captain.

“Ryenne is special, she’s really special,” Davies said, “in her mind and in her heart and the way she loves this game and loves her teammates. She’s just really special. She loves the game and is really good.”

Oswego East beat Neuqua 16-11 on May 9, but it was a game in which Drehs threw just the first three innings.

The rematch was only 1-1 through four innings until the bats came alive late. Waldusky, who hit rockets all game, was in the middle of three of Neuqua’s four scoring rallies.

“For me personally I just wanted to find a strike and hit it hard, and if it went somewhere it went somewhere,” said Waldusky, a Millikin commit. “That was my approach was let a ball find a barrel and if it gets through, that’s great.”

Dickson’s single scored Clifford with the tying run in the sixth, and the go-ahead run came in on a wild pitch.

An Oswego East error in the sixth and another in the seventh helped fuel Neuqua’s rallies, and a throw that hit a runner allowed two more runs to score in the seventh.

“That’s what it felt like, was who could make the least mistakes,” Davies said. “Proud of the way we finished, our overall mindset. We did all we could.”

Next up for Neuqua is a 32-2 Oswego team that has hit 50 home runs this season, and averages over 10 runs per game.

Drehs does not appear fazed by the challenge.

“I know they’re good. I respect them but I’m not scared of them,” she said. “I’m excited. We’re all super hyped. We’re not going to just bow down to them.”