West Chicago uses right formula to beat WW South
For West Chicago ace Mary Connolly, the winning formula was simple Wednesday afternoon in Wheaton. Simply shut out the other team and hit a home run and it's impossible to lose.
Connolly did just that as West Chicago powered its way past Wheaton Warrenville South 8-0 in a game dominated by the Connolly and the 'Cats.
"I was seeing the ball well today," Connolly said. "We did a lot of hitting before the game, and I was feeling confident."
Seeing the ball well was an understatement as Connolly went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBI while twirling a 1-hit, 6-strikeout, no-walk gem on the mound.
West Chicago (17-6, 4-1 DuPage Valley Conference) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning as they manufactured a run off an error, a single and an RBI groundout. Tigers pitcher Julianne LaFleur got Connolly to pop out to avoid any further damage.
However, Connolly enacted her revenge when she blasted a two-out, 3-run homer to right-center field in the fifth, giving herself all the cushion she would need.
"I was trying to jam her and throw her changeups to throw her off," LaFleur said. "I was trying to hit the corner and I threw an outside pitch and she went for it and got it."
LaFleur (7-10) gutted through seven innings after taking a line drive off her body in the first inning.
"I was trying to keep a positive attitude and really tried to hit my spots today more than usual," LaFleur said. "We knew they were a good hitting team and we tried to not get down when they did score."
The Wildcats tacked on 3 more runs in the seventh inning, courtesy of another Connolly RBI and two Tigers errors.
Another stellar area for the Wildcats was their defense. They committed no errors while Connolly (14-4) induced 10 groundouts.
"Our defense was flawless today, which was big because they put the ball in play and they have some good hitters," Connolly said. "The defense behind me made me feel confident throwing whatever because even if I wasn't hitting my spots they were going to make the plays."
Conversely, Wheaton Warrenville South (11-12, 1-4) couldn't get into a rhythm all afternoon.
"We improved on putting the ball in play against her, they just have to be hits," Wheaton Warrenville South coach Denise McCance said. "All week we've been hitting the ball at people. They had some nice hits and we couldn't put a couple things together."