Davey, Glenbard South get last laugh against Naperville North

Glenbard South had to think quick.

With runners on second and third, two out and the score tied in the bottom of the sixth inning Friday afternoon, the Raiders needed to get sophomore Hannah Davey to relax a little before her at-bat. When Naperville North assistant coach Jackelyn Diekemper went to the mound to consult pitcher Lauren Clouston, the Raiders went to work on Davey.

"The group of us that were here did a nice job of keeping Hannah loose," Raiders coach Julie Fonda said. "She was kind of uptight and I think it was (Maddy Peterson) who was on third base said something funny and she started laughing, so that got her loose. She's a good hitter. She has a great swing. But she's a sophomore and that's a pressure situation."

Davey responded to her teammate's kidding by dropping a 2-run single into right field and giving the Raiders a 4-2 nonconference win over the Huskies in Glen Ellyn.

After shortstop Sammy Marshall threw out two Raiders at first base to start the inning, catcher Jackie Wrona drew a walk, with Peterson going in as a courtesy runner. Tess DiIorio followed with an infield single to the hole between first and second, and when Peterson dashed for third, DiIorio followed to second base. That brought up Davey.

"I was really nervous going into it, but they were kind of making me laugh, so I was calm and OK," Davey said. "I just thought about how much it would help my team."

It was tough luck for Naperville North (0-2), which twice took 1-run leads.

"Sure it was," Huskies coach Jerry Kedziora said. "I thought we were in charge most of the game, and those two-out walks always seem to kill you. Unfortunately, with a good team like South it's going to kill you.

"You can't walk a team like this because they're going to take advantage of it. I don't know how they do it, but they're aggressive and they're able to get runners when they need to."

Pitcher Jess Wilkes got the victory for the Raiders (5-0) and also hit a home run to left field to tie the game at 1 in the second inning.

"She doesn't swing at the first pitch usually," Fonda said. "She usually lets the first pitch go by, but obviously there was something about that one that she liked. It was nice to see. She's got power. She hits the ball well and it was nice to see it go over (the fence) because we don't get to see that too often."