Softball: West Aurora savors first sectional championship

Gab Dragler took nothing but left turns facing Downers Grove North ace Savannah Rodriguez Friday afternoon in Bolingbrook in her first three at-bats.

But the fourth plate appearance for the West Aurora freshman produced twin historic achievements for the Blackhawks' softball program.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Class 4A Bolingbrook sectional championship game, Drager laced a shot that caromed off Rodriquez.

The ball tantalizingly dribbled toward home plate.

West Aurora senior Kallie Rundle, who led off the inning with a double, raced home to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 victory.

Not only was it the first sectional title in school history for West Aurora (31-7) but also gave the team a new benchmark for most wins in a season.

The fourth-seeded Blackhawks will face either Marist or Lyons Twp. Monday afternoon in the Sandburg supersectional in Orland Park.

The No. 5 Trojans bowed out at 26-7.

"I was a little nervous, but I had a job to take care of," Drager said. "When I was back in the count (1-and-2), I knew I had to keep my hands short. Once I hit it, I knew it was going to be a hot shot."

"(Drager) stuck the bat out," Downers North coach Eric Landschoot said. "Savannah supplied all the power. Take your hat off to (Drager), it was good 2-strike hitting."

It was an epic encounter between the star hurlers as Rodriguez and West Aurora senior Hannah Beatus combined for 27 punch outs, with the former recording 16.

But it was Beatus, bound for Division II power Grand Valley State in Michigan, who improved to 15-2 in the duel of complete games.

The Blackhawks' senior stranded 4 runners in scoring position in the first three innings.

Downers North took a 1-0 lead in the its half of third when Mackenzie Bernhard coaxed a bases-loaded walk.

"We were able to get out of those jams because we stayed calm," Beatus said. "You can't get all flustered because they get a couple of baserunners on."

Rundle would be the other starring attraction for the Blackhawks.

Faith Pokryfke had been the only West Aurora player to record a hit off Rodriguez in the first five-plus innings.

But Rundle had a soft single to center field with two outs in the sixth to tie the game as pinch-runner Shai Erdrich scored from second.

"I was trying to do a job," Rundle said. "We bunted the girl (Erdrich) over. I went up there hoping for the best."

The true unsung hero for the Blackhawks was Gabriella Nilles, the freshman catcher who gunned down two would-be base thieves late in the game.

"No doubt about it, those were two huge plays (by Nilles)," West Aurora coach Randy Hayslett said. "It was the first out both times."