Glenbard South too much for Wheaton North

Having lost her junior season to injury, Glenbard South catcher Aly Miller is wasting little time making sure her final campaign is a special one.

Miller went 3-for-4 at the plate in Tuesday's 8-1 defeat of Wheaton North and, for the second time in as many days, was sharp behind the plate as the Raiders have opened the year 2-0 after outscoring their opponents 18-1.

"Definitely me being out last year I was ready to come back this year and show my stuff," said Miller, who suffered an ACL tear last year. "I was ready to come back senior year. I was blessed with this team and we're ready."

After the Falcons (0-1) scored a run in the top of the first off Glenbard South freshman Daniella Little, the hosts came right back with two runs in the bottom of the first. The first run came around on a single by Miller over the bag at first. The Raiders tallied three more times in the fourth inning and put the game away with three runs in the sixth.

"We were all pretty hyped," said Miller, who caught Ashley Cohen's 5-inning shutout of Hinsdale South on Monday before working with Little on Tuesday. "Coming off a good win yesterday I think we all had to get focused today. We came hitting the ball hard today. We came ready."

Little also was ready to make her varsity debut, and it helped to have Cohen sharp at shortstop and Payton Carli covering plenty of ground in center.

"With everyone's help I get that motivation to do my best and keep going," said Little, who blanked Wheaton North over the final six innings after Maggie Will's double had given the visitors a quick 1-0 lead. "We do have solid defense and that keeps us going. It makes you feel better, like they got my back and they're always there for me."

The offense also had Little's back, recording 10 hits off two Falcons pitchers and taking advantage of some fielding miscues.

"Overall we've put good run support on for both our pitchers. If we can do that and limit the errors on defense, we're going to be a tough team to deal with," Raiders coach Julie Fonda said. "I'm really happy with the hitting 1 through 9.

"It's not just the top of my order. My whole team has been awesome."

For Wheaton North, the final score was somewhat deceiving. Without some critical errors, pitchers Sarah Gorzak and Lucy Gerry would not have allowed 8 runs. And with a little luck at the plate, some hard-hit balls might have fallen rather than turning into outs by a strong Glenbard South defense.

"The score was not a reflection of the game, and of our team," Falcons coach Danielle Soraghan. "But being the first game it was just trying to iron out the kinks and see where we're at, where we stand. We had a lot of energy throughout the game, which was good to see. Our pitchers did a great job on the mound."

Will, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI, led the Falcons offense and Jaime Smith was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.