Waubonsie Valley keeps cruising toward playoffs
Tuesday's second and final regular-season softball battle between Waubonsie Valley and host Neuqua Valley was the story of two squads ready for the upcoming postseason.
The Warriors were running on all cylinders, prevailing 8-2. Although it was not a great day for the Wildcats, they went into the contest having won 12 of their last 13 games. Senior Shannon Hohman got the complete-game victory, allowing just 5 hits and striking out 14. She struck out seven straight from the first through third innings and struck out the side in the second and fourth innings.
"They are ready. They want this (the postseason)," said Waubonsie coach Val Wood. "They have overcome obstacles this season and have risen above it. They're peaking at the right time. The hitting, pitching and defense have come together."
Waubonsie (24-8, 16-4 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division) finished the afternoon with 16 hits. The Warriors got to work right away in their half of the first, scoring 3 runs on 3 hits.
Leadoff hitter Veronica Zahn reached on an infield hit. A throwing error to try and get Zahn heading to second allowed Jordan Kurth to reach on a fielder's choice. Hohman then singled to left to score Zahn. Kurth scored on a wild pitch, and Layne Thresh's groundball out made Hohman the Warriors' third run.
Waubonsie added a run in the third, fifth and sixth innings to take a 6-0 advantage. Thresh doubled to the left-field fence with one out in the third and scored on Michele Calabrese's single to right.
In the fifth Sabrina Calabrese singled and scored on a dropped third strike. Christina Pembrook singled to center in the sixth and came home on a wild pitch.
Hohman gave up 2 hits to the Wildcats in the first and then proceeded to throw four innings of no-hit ball.
"She worked hard to get control and was hitting her spots and they were going after her riseball," Wood said.
Neuqua (15-17) got on the scoreboard in the sixth in a big way. With one out lead-off hitter Julia Huebner connected on a single that just reached the outfield and was out of reach of a fielder. Then Jenny Budds got her second hit of the day as she blasted a triple to right to bring Huebner home. Budds scored on catcher Danielle Olson's single with two outs.
Pembrook, Waubonsie's center fielder, injured her ankle while trying to field Budds' triple and was taken off the field on a cart. The extent of her injury was not known after the game.
Waubonsie tacked on 2 more runs in the seventh. Calley Gautschi reached on an infield hit and scored on a wild pitch. Audria Wagenknecht reached on a fielding error and scored on Kurth's groundball out.
McCarthy stressed that this game was not reflective of the Wildcats' recent play and is optimistic about Neuqua in the postseason.
"This was not our best. We learned a lot today. In April we had a lot of bad first innings like what happened today. We had not seen that since May began," she said.
Waubonsie still has some regular-season business remaining. A win Wednesday at South Elgin and a victory the next day at West Aurora will give the Warriors a share of the UEC Valley title with West Aurora.