Softball: Extra effort required as Warren tops Libertyville in 10

It took 10 innings before Warren's Erika Jimenez finally got the pitch on the inner half that she had been sitting on all game.

And then she promptly took a called strike.

"She was trying to get me on the outside all day," Jimenez said of Libertyville ace Hannah Heraty, who was getting Blue Devils out all game. "She pitched me that first pitch inside and I took it, and I was like, 'Oh, man. I hope she gives me another one.' When she gave it to me, I just whacked it."

Hard.

Jimenez sizzled an 0-1 pitch down the left-field line, Caitlyn Britton raced home from second base, and Warren's softball team edged the visiting Wildcats 3-2 in a North Suburban Conference showdown that required extra innings Tuesday.

With the win, Warren (13-6, 7-1) avenged an earlier-season loss and moved into a first-place tie with Libertyville (17-3, 7-1).

"I had adrenaline on my side," the sophomore Jimenez said. "All I wanted was to come out with a win today."

Fittingly, Britton figured in the winning run. Already with 12 homers in her second varsity season, the sophomore showed she can be a difference-maker in the circle too, as she shut down a Libertyville team that had outscored its opponents 126-14 in its last 11 games.

Britton pitched a complete game, while also going 2-for-4 at the plate. She singled with one out in the 10th and advanced to second when Heraty walked Sarah Finkel.

In the top of the 10th, Britton had worked out of a first-and-third, one-out jam to keep the score tied 2-2.

"I just believed in myself and believed in my defense, and we executed today," Britton said. "It was really good defense. That's for sure."

Libertyville hadn't lost a game since its Spring Break trip to Florida. The Wildcats committed an uncharacteristic 7 errors in seeing their 14-game winning streak snapped.

"That was absolutely the complete opposite of everything we've done the entire year," Libertyville coach Elissa Wisniewski said. "Physically, mentally, we just didn't come to play today. And when you play a team like Warren, you can't do that."

Heraty allowed just 6 hits, including a double to Kayla Nommensen, and 2 walks, while striking out 12. Only the 10th-inning run she surrendered was earned.

"When you let a team like Warren get six times through the order, they're going to find a way to start hitting your pitcher," Wisniewski said. "I think Hannah did a fantastic job keeping them off balance and going through a really tough lineup."

Britton yielded only 7 hits but walked five and hit a batter. The only hit the right-hander allowed in extra innings was a leadoff single in the 10th to Emily Hilldale (2-for-3, 2 walks), who advanced to third with one out.

"In 10 innings, how can you not get tired?" Warren coach Jenna Charbonneau said of her pitcher. "But she pushed through it. She made the pitches when she needed to. She got deep into counts, but she threw strikes."

Maggie Evers' RBI double and Franny Quenan's sacrifice fly gave Libertyville a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Warren pulled even with solo runs in the fourth and fifth.

Libertyville stranded 14 runners on base, including nine in scoring position. The Wildcats went just 7-for-38 (.182 batting average) against Britton.

"She's a really good pitcher," Heraty said. "We were just not choosing the pitches we wanted. We had good at-bats. We just couldn't get the (runners) in."