West Aurora's Hunger appreciates support, beats Geneva
Christina Hunger called it the coldest game she's ever pitched in, though the West Aurora junior sure didn't seem bothered by the freezing temperature and gusting wind.
Hunger allowed a single unearned run, pitching West Aurora to a season-opening 6-1 victory over Geneva Thursday.
"It (the weather) was pretty hard but when my hand got warmed up it was fine after awhile," Hunger said.
Hunger's defense made her feel better, especially in the outfield running down the couple solid hits Geneva (0-3) managed.
"I thought we hit some good balls today," Geneva coach Greg Dierks said. "The outfield defense for them was very good."
"I feel confident in all of them," Hunger said of the group anchored by Lari Mitchell in center. "They were really crucial in this game."
Geneva took a 1-0 lead in the second. Third baseman Elana Wright ripped a double to deep right, then scored on a controversial play that had West Aurora coach Dave Zine arguing for interference.
On a grounder to short, Wright scored when West Aurora couldn't handle a throw to first. But before that throw Zine thought there was interference between the runner and his fielder and he spent several minutes making that point with the umpires.
"We still should have made the play but it was interference, obviously there was contact, it should have been a dead ball called right away," Zine said.
"Tough start, but we battled back."
That West Aurora did, taking the lead for good with a 3-run third inning. The Blackhawks played small ball, starting with a pair of walks, a bunt, then capitalizing on a Geneva error before Francesca Evischi's sacrifice fly.
"The first set of three I was concerned with the way we played that inning," Dierks said. "That was not a good inning at all."
The second set of three came in the fifth inning when the Blackhawks chased Geneva starter Kelly McCaffrey.
That gave Hunger a 5-run cushion, the kind of run support she wasn't used to last year.
"Hunger could have used those runs last year when she pitched," Zine said. "It was nice to see the girls give our pitching staff some support."
"It felt good having insurance runs," Hunger said. "We did a nice job moving the ball around. It was a big difference from last year."
After playing at Burlington Central on Saturday, West Aurora leaves Monday for Cincinnati. The Blackhawks will play five games before returning home Thursday.
"We played small ball that (second) inning very well," Zine said. "We put the pressure on them. It was a huge victory for us. They have a good, solid team and took us to the wire last year. It's a good way to start the season."