Softball: Downers Grove North defeats WW South
Downers Grove North's bats cooled off a little bit Thursday, but not too much.
Twenty-four hours after scoring 17 runs against Oak Park-River Forest, the Trojans defeated Wheaton Warrenville South 7-3 in a nonconference softball game in Downers Grove.
Trojans coach Eric Landschoot said Downers North's hitting has been consistent.
"We've been doing it all season. Today it took a while to get the bats going, but hitters adjusted after the first time through," he said.
Jade Mejia Wick hit a 2-run single in the fourth and doubled in the sixth. She said generating the type of offense the Trojans have shown the past two days and throughout the season is a pretty basic approach for her as a player.
"For me, I'm not big. My goal is never to aim for a home run but to get on base or bring someone home whether I'm leading off like today or No. 8 where I was yesterday," she said.
WW South (11-5) took the lead first when leadoff hitter Aerin Moberg singled to center and later came home on Kaitlyn Bresingham's infield hit bunt. The Tigers went up 2-0 in the second on Abby Struebing's solo homer on a 1-2 pitch.
"We competed well and it was nice that we jumped out early," said Tigers coach Jeff Pawlak, "but we didn't put the ball on the bat enough."
The final run of the day for WW South came in the sixth on Carly Briggs' home run.
"Their home runs were good to see. We need them swinging the bat," Pawlak said. "I thought (starting pitcher Izzy Fawcett) for the most part hit her locations, but we didn't help her enough."
Downers North (12-3) took the lead for what would be for good with a 3-run mark in their half of the second. Madi Greenberg started the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Then with two out, Melissa Manzo singled to center followed by Stacy Drohan's single to right to score Greenberg. That set the stage for Kelsey Bernhard whose single emptied the bases.
Wick's 2-run single followed in the next inning. It scored Drohan, who had singled, and Bernhard, who had doubled.
The Trojans' final two runs came in the fifth. Renee Bielawa singled to right and Estelle Czech reached on a fielding error. MacKenzie Bernhard's single to left scored Bielawa and Manzo's sacrifice fly scored Czech.
Winning pitcher was Audrey Gusel. She allowed seven hits and struck out 10, including five in the first two innings.
"Even if I'm down 10 runs or up 10 runs, I go at it 100 percent and trust my catcher and the defense," she said. "A big lead eases you a little bit, but you still have to pitch the same."
There could be a rematch later this season. Both squads are in the Class 4A Oswego sectional.
"We've beaten some good teams. We've had some low moments and hopefully they have passed. We look forward to the rest of the season. We're going to face some more tough teams coming up and we want to continue to play competitive softball," Landschoot said.