Naperville Central, Wunderlich make 1 run stand against West Aurora

Nobody need remind Naperville Central the importance of getting to Stephanie Becker early.

Two years ago, West Aurora's lefty ace beat the Redhawks in an 18-inning affair that took two days to finish.

"I think our best chances against her in that game were the first three innings," Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said. "If you don't get to her early, she's going to get better as the game goes along."

The Redhawks touched Becker for a run in the second on Monday in Naperville, and Natalie Wunderlich made it stand for a 1-0 win.

Wunderlich (11-3) might savor this shutout, her fourth of the season, a little more. She and Becker are summer teammates on the Orland Park Sparks. Wunderlich lost to Becker in that 18-inning matchup, but the same season she no-hit West Aurora. They split two meetings last year, too.

"I do look forward to facing her," Wunderlich said. "Obviously she's a really good pitcher, so you know it's going to be close. She's one of my good friends."

Kelsey Gonzalez tripled to lead off the Naperville Central (16-4, 4-2 DuPage Valley Conference) second inning. Becker came back to strike out the next two batters, but Maggie Buoy lined Becker's first pitch to left to bring home Gonzalez.

"You open the inning with a triple and then get two strikeouts - it doesn't look good," Nussbaum said. "She hit the ball hard. I told the girls in the dugout 'I hope you realize how important that run is.'"

"Instead of pitching up, and making their hitter hit the ball up," West Aurora coach Dave Zine said, "she threw her a pitch she could handle and she got the bat on the ball."

Becker (9-6) allowed two more base runners in the fourth, then set down the last 10 Naperville Central batters and finished with 6 strikeouts.

Wunderlich, who struck out 10, retired 13 straight batters at one point until Maggie Becker's leadoff single in the sixth. Wunderlich stranded the runner at second. West Aurora (13-11, 2-4) put two runners on in the seventh, but Wunderlich struck out the side to preserve the shutout. The final out came on a 3-2 offering one pitch after a flare landed just foul in back of first base.

"The seventh inning, no matter what, is always stressful," Wunderlich said, "because it's the end of the game. You just have to focus on the batter and what pitches to throw to them to get through."

"It's a matter of getting the runners in scoring position," Zine said, "but then we needed to come up with that key hit. It's a typical game in the DVC. One run is going to win the game."

West Chicago 5, WW South 1: Mary Connolly (14-1) struck out nine and allowed just 2 hits for the Wildcats (19-3, 5-1 DVC).

Glenbard North 7, Naperville North 0: The Panthers (12-5, 3-1 DVC) scored 5 runs in the second inning and Hannah Santora (9-3) struck out six in a 2-hit shutout.

Wheaton North 7, Glenbard East 1: Kelsey Ullrich went deep in the fourth inning with a 2-run homer, her fourth of the year, for the Falcons (13-6, 4-2 DVC).

Montini 4, Aurora Central 0: Lara Mangialardi (11-4) fired a no-hitter, striking out 13, and Ashley Turacek doubled in 3 runs in the first inning for the Broncos (12-4, 6-2 Suburban Catholic).

St. Francis 10, Driscoll 0: Brianna Pasquale doubled twice and drove in 5 runs for the Spartans (18-3, 7-0 Suburban Catholic).

Benet 2, Nazareth 0: Meghan Eastman struck out eight in a 1-hitter for the Redwings (19-3, 10-0 East Suburban Catholic), who won their 13th straight. Shellie Schafer went 2-for-3 and drove in the game's first run in the second.

Waubonsie Valley 5, Streamwood 3: Jen Faassen went 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBI for the Warriors (7-13, 5-5), who led 4-0 after two innings.

Lisle 8, Westmont 1: Colleen Drennan went 3-for-4 and scored 3 runs and Melanie Early went 3-for-4 with 5 RBI, 3 coming on a bases-clearing double, for the Lions (15-8, 6-4 Interstate Eight).

Downers Grove North 3, Hinsdale Central 2: Jenna Butler's bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth scored Katie Hunzinger with the winning run for the Trojans (10-10, 2-3 West Suburban Silver).

Sandburg 6, Glenbard South 5: The Raiders ripped host Sandburg for a 5-run third but couldn't hold the lead in Orland Park. Kristin Grossman went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI for Glenbard South (9-11).

Hinsdale South 7, Leyden 5: Michelle Bolos went 3-for-3 and drove in 2 runs and Dana Capocci 2-for-2 with 2 runs scored for the Hornets (12-3).

IMSA 3, Wheaton Academy 1: IMSA touched Wheaton Academy (8-11) for 3 runs in the third inning. Kim Olson (2-6) struck out eight for the Warriors.