A Dash of heroics for Wildcats
Add Taylor Dash to the list of West Chicago heroes in its marathon matchups with Naperville Central.
Dash's single just over shortstop scored Chrissie Rovtar with one out in the bottom of the ninth in the Wildcats' 1-0 win on Monday.
West Chicago (16-3, 3-1 DuPage Valley Conference) beat Naperville Central twice in extra innings last year en route to the DVC title. Linnea Detrick, now at the University of Illinois, scored the winning run in the first game and had the game-winning hit in the second.
"I wanted a chance to bat there," Dash said. "I wanted to win. Any way to get the run, I was happy."
Rovtar was hit by a Natalie Wunderlich pitch leading off the ninth and moved to second on Mary Connolly's sacrifice. Jamie Dash followed with a single to center, but Rovtar was stopped at third. Taylor Dash then flared Wunderlich's first offering just over the reach of leaping Redhawks shorstop Kelsey Gonzalez.
"I was looking for anything close," Dash said, "because she was kind of all over the place. Anything close, I wanted to get a piece of it."
"We knew that it was going to take one mistake, or one hit," West Chicago coach Emily Johnson said. "We thought that since we had runners on, we would eventually get one in. It could have gone either way all game. They pulled their infield in on that last batter and Taylor popped it right over their head. Plays like that, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't."
The matchup of Wunderlich and Connolly didn't disappoint. Wunderlich (8-3) struck out 10 and surrendered just 6 hits and 2 walks. Only two West Chicago runners reached second base until the fateful ninth.
Connolly (11-1) didn't blink once, striking out 12 while allowing 3 hits and 2 walks. She turned away two golden opportunities for Naperville Central (12-4, 2-2) in the fourth and fifth.
A Stephanie Lynch single, Megan Silke two-out walk and a passed ball put runners on second and third in the fourth before Connolly coaxed an inning-ending groundout. Gonzalez singled leading off the fifth and Jori Gonzalez walked with two gone, a wild pitch advancing them to second and third. But Connolly struck out Maggie Buoy to put out the threat.
"With my defense behind me," Connolly said, "knowing that they weren't going to make mistakes I knew that if I let a runner on I didn't have to worry about it. If the ball was hit to them they'd make the play."
Naperville Central, which stranded 10 runners in a 1-0 loss to Wheaton North on Friday, also left a runner on second in the top of the ninth.
"We have to put the ball in play," Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said, "and our kids know that. It wasn't because of a lack of effort. We're struggling a little bit at the plate right now and Connolly's a good pitcher."
WW South 3, Naperville North 2: Meaghan Sullivan tripled in Sarah Skurla and scored on Krysta Watts' single to rally the Tigers (9-10, 2-2 DVC) in the bottom of the eighth. Naperville North (10-8, 1-3) had snapped a 1-1 tie with a run in the top of the eighth.
Glenbard North 7, Glenbard East 1: Jenny Nelson drove in 3 runs and Bri DiGioia and Alyssa Jasinski each had a single and double for the Panthers (9-5, 2-1).
West Aurora 3, Wheaton North 2: Devin Vaughn's slow roller scored the winning run as the Blackhawks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Falcons (11-5, 2-1).
Benet 7, Fenwick 0: Lauren Ladowski doubled, scored 2 runs and drove in another to back Meghan Eastman's 2-hitter for the Redwings (14-3, 6-0 East Suburban Catholic), who won their eighth straight.
St. Francis 12, Immaculate Conception 0: Jenny Eldridge and Emily Karpinski homered and Taylor Ronchetto (10-1) struck out 11 for the Spartans (15-2, 4-0 Suburban Catholic Conference) who ran their win streak to 13 games.
Montini 2, St. Edward 1: Jenna Scudder singled in Lara Mangialardi with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh for the Broncos (9-4, 4-2 Suburban Catholic). Mangialardi struck out 12 in a 2-hitter.
Neuqua Valley 10, Plainfield Central 1: Colleen Hohman went 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and drove in 3, and also struck out nine for Neuqua Valley (8-4).
Waubonsie Valley 5, DeKalb 0: Ally Seplak homered and drove in 2 for the Warriors (6-11), who won their fourth straight.
Downers Grove South 11, Addison Trail 1: Marissa Mersch, Katy LaCivita and Alyssa Magallenes all homered for the Mustangs (13-2, 4-0 West Suburban Gold Conference).