Wheaton North power surge sinks West Aurora
Wheaton North hit 3 home runs, including a pair in the seventh inning, of a 5-4 come-from-behind win Friday at West Aurora - and that wasn't the most impressive part of the Falcons' power display.
Those three home runs came from Wheaton North's No. 2, No. 6 and No. 9 hitters, the first of the year for each. Ele Walter, batting in the ninth spot, homered to lead off the seventh inning to tie the game, then Paige Evangelista put the Falcons ahead two batters later.
Both home runs cleared the left-field fence with plenty of room to spare. Walter also delivered a clutch 2-RBI hit in the sixth inning Wednesday against Glenbard North in a game the Falcons eventually lost in the seventh.
"We needed this, we needed something big," Walter said. "My heart exploded. It was amazing.
"We are really good hitters up and down. We all have our moments. I guess it was my turn today."
West Aurora (14-7, 0-3) held the heart of the Falcons' order to a combined 1-of-10 hitting, but Wheaton North (13-3, 1-2) made up for it with the rest of their lineup.
"Our girls we usually count on for that (home runs) weren't there today. They had an off-day," Wheaton North coach Karen Calabrese said. "Our other girls stepped up. That's nice to see each other pick each other up and not hang our heads."
Wheaton North's comeback wiped out a well-played game by West Aurora, who jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning and didn't trail until the seventh.
West Aurora junior Alyssa Reimers doubled to start the game but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
The Blackhawks still scored twice in the inning when catcher Maribeth Vaszuez delivered a 2-out, 2-run double to left that scored LaRi Mitchell and Devin Vaughn.
Starting pitcher Christina Hunger helped herself with an RBI single in the third inning on a ball that landed right on the chalk on the right-field line.
Trailing 3-0, Wheaton North started its comeback in the fifth when a two-out error by West Aurora kept the inning alive. Evangelista drove in one run with a single before Ali Hoffman's diving catch in left field left the bases stranded.
Katie Thornton lined a 2-run home run to left in the sixth to tie the game at 3. West Aurora regained the lead 4-3 in the bottom half on freshman Julianna Evischi's 2-out RBI single.
"A couple mistakes got us early in the game. When you play a close game like this those are the things that come back to haunt you," West Aurora coach Dave Zine said.
"It's a tough loss for us. Overall it was a good softball game. I told the girls you can't have your heads down after a game like this."
Calabrese made a pitching change in the fifth. Thornton relieved Kahla Nolan and held the Blackhawks to 1 run over the final 3 innings to improve to 6-0.
"Nolan just didn't have it today. She wasn't throwing hard and wasn't getting ahead in the count," Calabrese said. "Katie threw very well. That's the second time she has come in a situation like that and both times she came in and did her job."
Both teams were coming off a pair of DVC losses and both coaches were happier with their play Friday.
"Overall I'm pleased with the way we played after Monday and Wednesday," Zine said of losses to Naperville Central and Naperville North. "We just need to build on this and have confidence we can play with a team like Wheaton North."
"Our girls have been fighting back consistently," Calabrese said. "We have kind of been tensing up and today they did a job good of buckling down. It was nice to see them finish a game out."
Francesca Evischi took the loss for West Aurora. She relieved Hunger after Walter's home run in the seventh.
Hunger pitched through a muscle cramp in her right thigh. She allowed 6 hits and 1 walk in her 6 innings with 3 strikeouts.
Reimers and Vasquez both had 3 hits to lead West Aurora's 10-hit attack.