Baseball: Metea Valley win sets school mark
Metea Valley senior Lisa Harrington and Wheaton North senior Jaime Smith will be softball teammates and roommates at North Central College, but on Monday they were on opposing sides of a classic DuPage Valley Conference battle.
Like so many times this season, the Mustangs found a way to win.
Metea pulled ahead with 2 runs in the top of the sixth inning and hung on for a 6-5 victory in Wheaton to remain atop the DVC and set a record for victories in the program's seventh varsity season.
"We just talked about keeping the intensity. We always want to keep going," Harrington said.
"This season has been really amazing. Not many people expected us to be as good as we are. (But) there's no one team you can totally roll over. Everyone in this conference is so competitive."
Metea (17-8, 10-2) used a 2-run homer from Cleveland State recruit Sydney Bajusz and RBI singles by sophomore Emily Finger in building a 4-0 lead in the third.
The Falcons (10-14, 4-8) roared back with a 4-run fifth.
In the seventh Smith scored during Lily Oviatt's double with one out. Winning pitcher Kelly Collins (3-5), who entered during the fourth, then got a strikeout and flyout to Bajusz in center field to secure the victory.
"It was a great outing for (Collins). She's always warming up, ready to go," Metea coach Kris Kalivas said.
"They know what they have to do. They've done a great job all year of just coming back, coming back. We know we can score. It's just making sure defensively we're minimizing mistakes. Offensively, it's kind of been a different person every game."
Metea won their first meeting 13-6 April 17. This time both teams showed savvy on the basepaths.
Metea's Megan Hinkle and Sam Golminas opened the sixth by reaching on back-to-back errors. When the ball after Golminas' line drive rolled toward the third-base dugout, Hinkle tried for third and made it on a close play. Megan Archey and Bajusz brought them home with a groundout and sacrifice fly, respectively.
"(Hinkle) slid past the bag and then came back and touched the bag. They thought that they tagged her beforehand, but her hand was in. It was clean and the right call," Kalivas said.
In the Falcons' seventh, Lucy Gerry singled and Smith reached on a fielder's choice. When Oviatt doubled, the Mustangs tried to throw out Smith at third. When they then threw to second for Oviatt, Smith decided to dart home and scored fairly easily.
"When I got in, I was a little panicky, had a little heart attack, but it turned out fine," Smith said. "Once the ball goes to second, you can tell if they're going to get up quick or not. I thought I was going to have to slide."
Oviatt and Gerry each had two hits. In the Falcons' fifth No. 9 hitter Maddy Campbell and Alleigha Burau led off with singles, and Gerry and Smith followed with back-to-back RBI doubles. Gerry and Smith scored on sacrifice flies by Oviatt and Amanda Moravek.
"The first half (today) was the way we've been playing the past couple of games. The back half was the team that we know and love," Wheaton North coach Danielle Soraghan said. "We've been in a hitting slump for the past three games or so. The bats came around finally so we're hoping that stays for the rest of the season. They have the ability. That's for sure."
Bajusz is hitting .430 with 8 homers and 35 RBI. Finger, who was 3 for 4, is batting .405 in her second varsity season.
"Our seniors have really been stopping up and leading the team and making sure our younger kids are really comfortable," Finger said. "It's really been better than I expected it to be. It's been a great season so far. I hope it continues this way."
Harrington, who is hitting .395 with 28 RBI, and Smith are among four incoming potential catchers for North Central. Harrington also plays first and third base and Smith has outfield experience for different traveling teams.
They met during North Central's 2016 summer camp.
"We've just been friends ever since," Harrington said. "That was our introduction to North Central and we just ended up going there."