Softball: West Aurora keeps rolling, tops Kaneland
After West Aurora senior Cara Jimenez launched a home run well over the left-field fence during a 6-1 win over Kaneland Friday at the seventh annual Fox Valley tournament at Stuart Sports Complex in Aurora, her coach Randy Hayslett joked, "it is about time."
Told of that, Jimenez one-upped him.
"It was about time I got a hit to be honest," Jimenez laughed.
While she might not be hitting quite like she wants in the early going, the No. 3 hitter in West Aurora's lineup is a key part of the Blackhawks' 8-0 start to the season.
She went 2-for-3 against Kaneland with a double and the homer, her second of the season.
"In my mind? That's a double-digit home run hitter," Hayslett said. "She sits there every year with 5 (homers) and 35 RBI and a .400 average, but you know what? I think she could hit .500 with 10 homers and drive in 50. When she hits it she can hit it."
Kaneland (7-6) scored first. Meg Cohrs singled in Morgan Weber who also had singled.
West Aurora answered in the bottom of the first. Corey McCreedy doubled and trotted home for a 2-1 lead on the Jimenez home run, which came on an inside pitch as she worked on a more aggressive approach.
"I didn't take as many pitches as I usually do," Jimenez said. "I just kept my hands in. That was the focus this game, keep my hands in and explode."
Starting pitchers Libby Zoppa and Aly Jesionowski kept it a 2-1 game until West Aurora broke things open with a 3-run fourth. Zoppa helped herself with a 2-run double after Grace Hunger and Sarah Hansen had singled. Sophia Delgado added an RBI single.
"This might have been our best all-around game especially considering we didn't have (ace) Hannah (Beatus) going," Hayslett said. "We got great pitching from Libby, we came out swinging aggressively and hitting the ball hard. I don't think we had a bad at-bat. That's (Jesionowski) a pretty good pitcher. We stayed with it, we stayed on it."
West Aurora capped the scoring with a run in the fifth. Jimenez again was in the middle of the rally with her run-scoring double.
Jimenez also played a strong game defensively at third base including a running, over-the-shoulder catch on a foul ball, and Hansen made a diving catch in the outfield.
Zoppa pitched the first 5 innings to earn her fourth victory of the season. Freshman Payton Lundberg made her varsity debut striking out 4 in 2 perfect innings of relief.
The Blackhawks will play Burlington Central (9-2) in the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with the winner advancing to the championship game at 2:30 p.m.
Cohrs and Hannah Theobald led Kaneland with 2 hits. The Knights play Rosary on Saturday.
"Hannah turned it on. She barreled up on two real nice ones today," Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler said.
"Defensively we've been doing well. Our offense has fallen asleep. We're looking to get the bats back on again."