Central's Wunderlich unhittable

It would be hard to match Alyssa Wunderlich's 20-strikeout gem against Benet two months ago.

Older sister Natalie did Thursday.

Naperville Central's senior pitcher no-hit the Redwings 1-0, outdueling Benet's Meghan Eastman at the Class 4A Neuqua Valley sectional semifinal.

Wunderlich and the No. 2 seed Redhawks (29-6) advance to play No. 1 seed Lockport at 10 a.m. Saturday for the sectional championship. Wunderlich has thrown three straight shutouts in the playoffs, two of them no-hitters.

"Wow, what an outing," marveled Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum. "It's so easy for us to take her for granted, thinking if we score we're going to win. I thought she was outstanding Saturday (a 1-0 win over West Aurora in 10 innings). Today she was even better."

Wunderlich (19-5) allowed just a leadoff walk in the fifth in throwing her fourth no-hitter of the season. Amazingly enough, a pitcher with 221 strikeouts coming in had just 1 on Thursday, the first out in the seventh. Benet never did hit the ball out of the infield, and Naperville Central played error-less ball with Wunderlich herself making 5 putouts.

"They were attacking my pitches early," Wunderlich said, "and that's what happens with aggressive hitters. If they would have been more selective I might have had more strikeouts."

Neither pitcher allowed a hit through five innings, Naperville Central reaching off Eastman with 2 walks and an error. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Stephanie Lynch golfed a changeup from Eastman into the right-center field gap for a double. Courtesy runner Ashley Grach took third on a groundout. Eastman's 1-2 pitch to Megan Silke sailed high off the catcher's glove, and Grach scampered home on the wild pitch.

"It was a changeup," said Benet coach Jerry Schilf said. "We were trying to get it down. She just didn't get a good grip on it."

In the seventh Benet's Courtney Makowski lined a shot that ricocheted off Lynch's glove at first, but she recovered to flip to second baseman Jori Gonzalez for the out. Gonzalez also made a leaping grab on Shellie Schaffer's liner to end the fifth with a runner on second.

"You can't just be disappointed about this one game - you have to look at the entire season," said Schilf, whose 31-6 team set a school record for wins. "These kids have played phenomenal all year."

Naperville Central, seeking its first sectional title in 20 years, is back in the final for the second straight season. Last year the Redhawks upset No. 1 seed Plainfield Central behind Wunderlich before losing to Plainfield South.

"Hopefully, this year we'll stay more focused in our next game," Wunderlich said. "Last year after we beat the No. 1 seed I think we kind of thought 'we got this.' We'll be ready Saturday."