Kestas' 1-hitter gives Naperville Central's Nussbaum 600th victory
Julie Kestas had plenty to be excited about Wednesday afternoon in Naperville.
There was the 1-hitter she threw, not to mention the 11 strikeouts. Then there was the 4-0 softball victory against Wheaton Warrenville South that handed Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum his 600th victory dating back to 1984.
"A coach looks really good when your pitcher only allows two baserunners," Nussbaum said after the milestone victory. "She was as good as she's been."
"Definitely an on day," Kestas said with a laugh. "My screwball was breaking well for sure, and my riseball. They're normally my key pitches, but today they were spot on. I felt more comfortable with the spin today, and (catcher Abbey Place) called a great game back there. She was framing (pitches) amazing. Especially in the first inning she got me some big frames."
Kestas, who has allowed just 2 unearned runs in her last 21 innings, faced just one batter more than the minimum. She walked Tigers shortstop Maya Keating with one out in the fourth inning, but Place threw her out trying to steal second base.
With two out in the fifth inning, the Tigers' Maddie Trost took an 0-2 pitch the other way for a single to right field. She was stranded at first base.
"I was actually surprised she hit that ball to be honest with you," Kestas said. "I had two strikes on her so my goal was to go way away. I threw a fastball outside, way out hoping she wouldn't hit it, and she stepped perfectly and hit it."
Kestas set down the final seven batters in order.
"We had a lot of strikeouts on the day," Tigers coach Jeff Pawlak said. "We shouldn't have been surprised with how she threw. We just didn't hit."
"She has a lot of energy," Nussbaum said. "I mean when you can hear the ball hit the glove like it does. Smack. ... It's got a little bit of movement and she's changing speeds a little more and moving the ball."
Kestas seemed especially pumped up in the sixth inning when she struck out the side.
"I get really hyped up when I get strikeouts," Kestas said. "It's just exhilarating."
"She has struggled a little bit in the later innings," Nussbaum added, "so it's very nice to see her as dominant as she was there at the end."
It was the third straight victory for the Redhawks (10-5, 3-2 DuPage Valley Conference). Nussbaum is 600-467.
"It's interesting," he said. "I look back at No. 100 and I think at the time I had a kid that was four months old. Then for No. 500 my sons were here, my wife was here, I had one of the kids home from college. Now the little boys are playing baseball over there somewhere."
"I think it's awesome," Kestas added. "He's a good coach. ... I was proud to be a part of the process to do that."
Naperville Central got a run in the first inning when Lindsay Gonzalez reached base on a bloop, two-out single and scored on Place's triple to right center.
In the second inning Meredith Siambekos walked with two outs and went to second base on Annie Tassi's single to left. Leadoff hitter Katie Lamich drove in Siambekos with a single to left, and Lisa Tassi drove in Annie Tassi and Lamich with a double to the wall in left.
"Our good hitters came through with hits," Nussbaum said. "Gonzalez started a rally. Abbey got an RBI, Lamich got an RBI, Lisa got 2 RBI. Those are the people who are supposed to. Both innings we scored we scored with two out and nobody on."
After that, however, Tigers pitcher Madison Briggs kept the Naperville Central from scoring, though three Redhawks reached third base.
Briggs struck out five and walked two.
"Maddie pitched well," Pawlak said. "She was having to work the outside and her off-speed pretty well today. ... We didn't make some plays that we should have made, and it cost us. But she pitched well for the most part."
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