Naperville North finishes with two big innings
The Naperville North softball team made some of its opportunities in beating host Wheaton North 9-6 on Monday.
But when the game was on the line and opportunities were given to the Huskies, Naperville North did what a good softball team would do - take advantage of those opportunities to get the win.
"We celebrate a win. Wheaton North battled the whole time and came ready to play, but we battled back," said Huskies coach Jerry Kedziora, whose team improved to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in the DuPage Valley Conference.
Two Naperville North fielding errors helped bring home 3 runs in the Falcons' half of the sixth to tie the game at 5. Then opportunity was put in front of the Huskies. The team scored 4 runs in the seventh but on just one hit. Wheaton North (2-2 DVC) committed 3 errors in the inning, two of which brought 3 runs home. The lone RBI hit was Bailey Engel's second hit of the game, a single to left.
Naperville North took a lead quickly in the first when leadoff hitter Rachel Aiardo sent a 2-1 pitch over the fence. The Huskies made it 3-0 in the third. With one out Aiardo was hit by a pitch and Kelsey Warren's well-placed groundball turned into an infield hit. Dani Biesiada was facing two outs and a 1-2 count before she deposited a single to center to score Aiardo and Warren.
The Falcons have shown so far that they are a better team than last season's 9-25 squad. They showed it defensively early on. Center fielder Maggie Will made a pinpoint throw to catcher Rosie Craine to get a runner at home in the second. Second baseman Taylor Gaimari grabbed a rocket hit right at her for the crucial second out in the Huskies' third.
"We are a much better team than last year, and we focus on getting better every day," said Falcons coach Danielle Soraghan. "I'm happy for the most part, take away that last inning."
Wheaton North started showing its hitting chops by scoring 2 runs in the fourth. Kelly Thornton led off with an infield hit followed by Will's bunt hit. Thornton was safe on a throw to the plate that put Gaimari on with a fielder's choice. Then Craine's groundball out scored Will.
Naperville North wasn't done with the homers as Morgan Johannes blasted a 2-run shot in the sixth. Rachel Martin led off the inning with a double to the left-field corner and scored on Johannes' shot to put the Huskies up 5-2.
"I went through the full swing but made contact when I was at the half swing," Johannes said. "We had to come out strong today. We have been winning and wanted to keep that going. We've beaten Wheaton North in the past, but we knew we had to be tough today."
The two errors by the Huskies in the sixth scored Will and Natalie Shirley, and one of the errors put Craine on base and she scored on Paige Grittner's groundball out.
Naperville North put space between them and the Falcons with the 4-run seventh. Warren, Alexis Solak, Biesiada and Maddie Vassar, running for Johannes, all scored.
Winning pitcher Alex Hanselman went the distance, striking out 5. She set the Falcons down in order one inning and struck out two in the seventh to keep a Wheaton North rally at 1 run. Thornton's single to center scored Lele Burau.