Failure to make key plays costs Naperville Central

It was a special pregame Thursday at Downers Grove South, where coach Ron Havelka was honored for his 500th win with a framed team picture. Former All-America pitcher Amy Elza presented a framed "Havelka 500" jersey.

Win No. 502 was a special gift, too.

Danielle Trezzo and Alyssa Magallanes homered, and Katie Talbot settled down after a rough start as the No. 6 Mustangs beat No. 14 Naperville Central 7-4.

"We were trying real hard. We wanted to give him a win today," Trezzo said. "He was real surprised. He had no idea any of that stuff before the game was going to happen."

The hard-hitting Mustangs lineup, averaging 8 runs per game, scored the most runs off Naperville Central and ace junior Alyssa Wunderlich all season on a day when the wind was blowing out. Wunderlich (5-2) did strike out 10.

"When we did get a good pitch to hit," Havelka said, "we hit it pretty good. There aren't going to be many teams getting 7 runs off of her."

With the score tied 4-4, Trezzo doubled to lead off the bottom of the fifth and moved to third on a sacrifice. Katy LaCivita followed with a grounder to third, with a late-breaking Trezzo caught in a rundown. She got back to third safely, though, putting runners on second and third.

"I should have gone, probably. I wasn't going to go and then coach told me to go," Trezzo said. "You have to find a way to get out of it somehow."

Up stepped Magallanes, who drilled a 2-run double to the gap in left-center to make it 6-4.

"I was trying to hit it to the right side, get a runner in," Magallanes said, "but it was an inside pitch. I just turned on it."

An out later Michelle Lisy lined a single to center to score Magallenes.

"We cannot continue to give any team, let a lone a good-hitting team, more than three outs in an inning," Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said. "We just have to make plays like that (rundown). And I thought there was at least one ball in the outfield we should have caught today. We got to make plays."

Talbot (5-0) surrendered 2 runs in each of the second and third innings, allowing 8 baserunners over the first three innings. A Wunderlich RBI double with two out in the third gave Naperville Central a 4-3 lead, but Talbot set down the next 10 batters until a leadoff single in the seventh. That runner was doubled off first on a game-ending line-drive to Trezzo at shortstop.

"She settled down really well," Havelka said. "I was really proud with how she battled back."

Trezzo and Magallanes homered in the first to stake Downers Grove South (7-1) to a 3-0 lead. Naperville Central (6-4) came back with a pair of runs in the second on Nicole Kappelman and Kelsey Gonzalez sacrifice flies. A Meghan Griffin solo homer to center tied it 3-3 in the third.

"(Talbot) made adjustments as the game wore on," Nussbaum said, "and we did not. We did not adjust to the things they were trying to do."