Wyatt gets Glenbard West running

Mary McGrane preaches aggressive baserunning to her Glenbard West softball team.

Consider Bri Wyatt the head of the choir.

The Hilltoppers' leadoff hitter went 4-for-5 and had 4 of the team's 9 stolen bases in a 14-1 win over Naperville Central in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader in Naperville.

Naperville Central came back to take the second game 6-1. Wyatt reached base twice in that game, with another steal.

"When Bri gets on base," McGrane said, "she's our catalyst. She gets the team going. We can steal a lot of bases with our speed. We'll say 'when you run through first base and nobody's covering second you take it.' We don't want to settle for singles."

Glenbard West (11-12), leading 2-1 after three innings in Game 1, broke it open with a 4-run fourth and 8 more runs in the sixth.

Michele Waggoner's 2-run single capped off the fourth-inning rally. The Hilltoppers sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth, Wyatt singling twice in the inning. Taylor Steinhilber's 2-run double made it 12-1, and Wyatt singled in Sarah Steinhilber for the 14th run.

The aggressive, take-the-extra base Hilltoppers capitalized on 7 Naperville Central errors. Their 14 runs doubled the most the Redhawks had given up this season prior to Saturday. Wyatt stole second every time she reached base in Game 1.

"When I get on, everybody knows I'm going to try to get as many bases as I can," Wyatt said. "Everybody's aggressive on the bases; it's not just me."

Taylor Steinhilber (10-6) 3-hit the Redhawks with 4 strikeouts.

"I think this is probably the first time this season that we played a complete game," McGrane said. "I thought Taylor did a great job on the mound mixing it up and hitting her spots."

In Game 2 Redhawks ace Alyssa Wunderlich (12-6) restored order for Naperville Central, scattering 6 hits while striking out seven.

"We just needed to forget about the first game and come back strong," Wunderlich said. "I don't think we've ever played a team that stole that much on us. They have a lot of speed."

Tied 1-1 after three innings, Naperville Central (16-11) took the lead in the fourth with 4 two-out runs.

Laura Dierking singled in the go-ahead run, Nicole Kappelman drove in 2 more runs with a single and Kelsey Gonzalez doubled in Kappelman.

Gonzalez, who had a tough game at shortstop in Game 1, was 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and a run scored in Game 2.

"We had a really rough first game," Gonzalez said, "but to come back in the second game and hit the ball hard is really what we wanted to do. Nobody was really talking in the first game, communicating with each other. They were hitting the ball and the errors started coming.

"In the second game we played together, hit the ball when we needed to and got the clutch hits."