Chaparrals stars wrack up all-conference, region honors

The College of DuPage women's basketball team's outstanding season has resulted in conference and regional recognition for the Chaps' players.

DuPage, which finished the season with a 22-8 record, captured the North Central Community College Conference title with an 8-2 mark, placed four players on the all-conference teams.

Shanara Jones (Naperville North) and Bonnie Nge (Westmont) were first-team selections.

"I am very happy for Shanara, who came in as a transfer player and did everything I asked," said COD coach Chris Cotton. "Bonnie, who averaged only four minutes per game last year, had a great season as a key contributor to everything we accomplished."

Amanda Smith (Willowbrook) and LaChelle Williams (Addison Trail) were named to the all-conference second team.

"It was special that LaChelle, who didn't play the last four conference games because of an injury, was recognized," Cotton said.

Cotton added that Smith's recognition was notable because she was an undersized post player at 5-foot-6.

Earlier, Nge was named Most Valuable Player in the Region IV, Division III Tournament as teammates Smith and Dana Frederick joined her on the all-Region team.

First-year coach Cotton was also named Region IV Coach of the Year.

Benedictine: The baseball team (10-7) bolted out to a 4-0 start in Northern Athletics Conference action last week thanks to some superior pitching.

The Eagles, who had a 4:40 ERA going into the weekend with a .276 batting average against the staff, swept a doubleheader over Milwaukee School of Engineering 3-0 and 9-1 on Saturday.

They came back on Sunday to win a pair of games 1-0 and 4-2 over Dominican.

The pitching heroes on Saturday were sophomore James Callahan (Downers Grove North) and junior Kennedy Grear, who both tossed 9-inning complete game victories. On the day, the duo combined for 10 strikeouts and did not walk a batter.

"It's hard to remember the last time we've had back-to-back nine-inning complete games," said Benedictine coach John Ostrowski. "It's kind of rare for pitchers to go 9 innings and we also used to play the 7-inning games in doubleheaders."

Dave Flott (Driscoll), who missed most of last season due to an arm injury, posted the Eagles' third consecutive complete game and second straight shutout victory, scattered 4 hits in the 1-0 win.

In the second game, freshman Jake Thompson (Downers Grove South) struggled early, but settled in and earned his first college victory in the 4-2 win. Thompson allowed 6 hits and just 1 earned run. Dan Vincenti (St. Francis) got the save.

The staff ERA dropped by 1 full run per game to 3.40 and the opponents' batting average fell 20 points to .256 after the four-game streak.

Softball: Cassie Cappetto's batting exploits helped the Eagles to a 6-0 start in NAC play, in doubleheader sweeps over Concordia, Chicago, Alverno and Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Last week Cappetto hit an amazing .632, with 6 extra-base hits, including a pair of game-winning homers against Alverno. She drove in 12 runs and scored 7. She also was perfect in the field, handling all 32 chances at first base.

Wheaton: Senior Sarah Callicutt and sophomore Alissa Sharp have supplied the lumber and freshman Mandy Brockman and senior Kim Hegna have been the pitching stars as the Wheaton softball team (11-5) ran its winning streak to 6 games.

Callicutt has posted a .500 batting average with 10 RBI and 8 runs scored in the six games, while Sharp has batted .479.

Brockman is 2-0 with a save, a 0.00 ERA and 8 strikeouts in 14 innings of work, while Hegna has a 3-0 record with a save, and 9 strikeouts in 15 innings of work.

Wheaton opens its conference schedule with a doubleheader at North Central at 3 p.m.

North Central: The men's tennis team ran its record to 3-1 with three victories in as many days.

The Cardinal netters blanked Waubonsee Community College by scores of 7-0 and 9-0 before making it three in a row against Concordia with a 7-2 victory.

The Cardinals received outstanding performances from Chris Bennorth, Robert Lodding, Ryan Piers, Nick DeFalco (Willowbrook) and Josh Reid.