DECATUR, Ill. -- North Park baseball opened the 2026 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament with a 5-4 walkoff win on Wednesday against the Wheaton Thunder. Senior center fielder Joe Perona delivered the final swing of the game to get the Vikings through a hard-fought win against the Thunder.
The Thunder struck first in the top of the first. After a Mason Diel single and a Jack Gill walk, Will Clegg singled to load the bases and Charlie Scofield lifted a sacrifice fly to left to give Wheaton an early 1-0 advantage.
North Park answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning when sophomore first baseman John Greenwood doubled and scored when junior catcher Reyn Matsuzaki tacked on a two-out RBI single to knot the game at 1-1.
Wheaton regained momentum in the third inning. Clegg singled again to spark the rally, then Scofield drove in a run with a single that was followed by an RBI knock from Nathan Hedlund, pushing Wheaton ahead 3-1.
Despite the two-run second, North Park starter Jackson Nuese limited further damage and settled in, completing six strong innings. Nuese allowed just two earned runs on seven hits, struck out four, and worked out of tight spots to keep the Vikings within striking distance.
North Park chipped back in the fourth. Sophomore second baseman Kupono Akaka singled and scored when junior left fielder Rylan Li doubled down the left-field line, trimming the deficit to 3-2.
In the seventh, Nuese was lifted for senior reliever Zach Price. Price would induce a 6-4-3 double play ball and strike out the next batter to work a scoreless sixth before giving way to fellow senior Ethan Condit.
The Vikings took their first lead of the game in the seventh. After a walk and a lineout, Wheaton took out starter David Levengood, who had held North Park to just two runs. After the change, senior third baseman Eli Johnson singled to left, bringing Perona to the plate with two outs. Perona would drive a 3-1 fastball off the middle of the left-field wall, motoring around the bases for a two-run triple to give NPU a 4-3 lead.
After being held scoreless for five-straight innings, Wheaton finally broke through in the top of the ninth. Sean Dmyotrowicz doubled to start the inning and eventually scored on a Michael Chang RBI single with Wheaton's comeback aided by an error, tying the game at 4-4.
North Park responded right away in walk-off fashion. Senior Enzo Vertucci, coming into the game off the bench, led off the bottom of the ninth with a clean double to center before heading back to the dugout for freshman pinch runner Luke Bellini.
Next, Wheaton brought late-inning arm JD Van Hook in to close the door. A sacrifice bunt by Johnson moved Bellini to second, and Perona once again delivered, looping a single to left to drive in the winning run and advance North Park to day two.
Top Performers
North Park
Wheaton
- Sean Dmyotrowicz: 2-for-3, double, walk, run scored
- Will Clegg: 2-for-4, run scored
- Nathan Hedlund: 1-for-4, RBI
- Michael Chang: Pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth
What's Next?
North Park (23-17) advances to face the second-seeded Illinois Wesleyan Titans (18-20) on Thursday, May 7. First pitch at Workman Family Baseball Field is set for 3:30 PM CT.
