Wunderlich throws no-hitter at Naperville N.

Natalie Wunderlich is more than familiar with suspenseful softball games.

This was a different kind of drama.

Naperville Central's senior pitcher no-hit Naperville North on Thursday, striking out 9 batters in a 5-0 Redhawks win.

"I was keeping track of it in my head," Wunderlich said, "but I try not to think about it when I have one. I know the second I start thinking about it, it's going to go away. It's nice, especially against a big rival like Naperville North."

Wunderlich (8-1) combined with sister Alyssa to no-hit Bolingbrook 9-0 in the season's first game. Those kind of one-sided scores have been few and far between since then. Wunderlich is 6-0 in starts that Naperville Central has won by a single run.

"I almost didn't like it. I'd rather have the score be tight," Wunderlich said. "I feel like some of our team gets relaxed, and we can't do that."

Wunderlich did walk a batter in each of the first three innings, and Lauren Clouston reached on a two-out error in the fourth. But Wunderlich set down the last 10 batters she faced. Redhawks second baseman Jori Gonzalez preserved perfection in the seventh, sliding to her left on a smash by Kristen Thornton and flipping to first for the out.

"The ump wasn't calling anything," Wunderlich said, "so their hitters were smart. They weren't swinging. I wouldn't have swung calling all those balls. Even the ump in the field came up to me and said, 'He's not giving you anything.' You know when the other ump says something the zone is pretty tight."

"This game she let her defense play," Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said, "and they did a pretty good job. She's pitching now, not just throwing. She's moving the ball around a lot and she's playing good defense."

Naperville Central (10-2, 2-0 DuPage Valley Conference) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third. Gonzalez lined a leadoff single to left, Stephanie Lynch beat out a bunt hit and after an Erin Graham sacrifice Wunderlich ripped a single back through the box to score both runners.

The Redhawks tacked on 3 more runs in the fourth. All of them were unearned, as Naperville North (7-7, 0-2) committed 4 errors in the inning.

"Against a team like that if you make three, four, five errors you're not going to win games," Huskies coach Jerry Kedziora said. "We gave them way too many extra outs."