Softball: Neuqua Valley's Rainer nearly perfect against Willowbrook

While a 3-2 pitch that resulted in a walk could have gone either way, Julia Rainer and her Neuqua Valley teammates had very little to complain about on Monday afternoon.

That walk to Amy Bussa prevented Rainer from five innings of perfection, but the Wildcats pitcher did walk away with a no-hitter and a 10-0 victory over Willowbrook in the first-round of Class 4A regional play in Naperville.

Rainer's teammates jumped out to a 5-0 lead with a 6-hit first inning and then added 5 more runs in the fourth inning to knock off Willowbrook in five innings and advance to Tuesday's game against Plainfield North, the No. 2 seed in the Bolingbrook sectional.

"I came out nervous because it's our first regional, but I feel very confident in the team because we've been on such a roll lately," said Rainer, who had 10 strikeouts and allowed just one baserunner. "My catcher, Danielle (Olson), was calling great pitches as usual. I always feel good when she catches me and I guess it was working for me today."

What also feels good is an early lead. When the first seven Neuqua Valley batters reached safely against the Warriors' Veronica Swan - 6 hits and an error - Rainer had herself a 5-0 lead after one inning. Abby Meeks had a 2-run triple and Paige Price, Chloe Steinhaus and Olson each added run-scoring hits in the first.

"It's so comforting as a pitcher when your team gets you a lead like that and keeps on hitting," Rainer added.

Swan settled down for the Warriors (9-19), working out of a second-inning jam and also blanking the hosts in the third. But the Wildcats (17-16) busted off another 5-run inning in the bottom of the fourth to build a double-digit lead.

Olson delivered a two-out, 2-run single to make it an 8-0 score, and then Gabi Dufresne belted a 2-run home run over the wall in left center.

"It was my first home run actually," the senior center fielder said. "It was my first ever over the fence, so that was really exciting for me. I didn't really think about it. I just swung like I normally would and it just ended up going a lot farther than I thought. So that was good."

Willowbrook coach Rachel Karos was disappointed that Monday's finish was not a true reflection of the strides the program has made the last three weeks. The Warriors started an all-sophomore outfield, and sophomore Emma Barrington handled the catching.

"It's been a year of baby steps for us, but we really have improved," Karos said. "I wanted a better ending today because we didn't show how much we have improved the last couple weeks. And I'm super proud of how Swan bounced back after that first inning. It's easy to get discouraged."

Wildcats coach Christina Frontera likes the way her team is playing heading into a rematch with a Plainfield North team that defeated Neuqua Valley earlier this spring.

"It's a tough regional and a tough sectional," she said. "But coming off our winning streak and coming off the way we played today will only help our confidence going into tomorrow."