Naperville Central adds hitting to standout pitching

Everybody knows Naperville Central has some of the best pitching in the area.

If the Redhawks hit like they did Thursday, look out.

Back-to-back homers by freshman Maddi Doane and Alyssa Wunderlich highlighted an 11-hit outburst, as the 11th-ranked Redhawks ripped No. 12 Benet 10-2 in Lisle.

It was a somewhat startling offensive showing from a team that has leaned heavily on its pitching in recent years.

“We can play small ball if we have to, but it’s nice to see balls go over the fence, balls go in the gap — and yesterday we scored some runs too,” said Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum, whose team beat Plainfield Central 7-6 on Wednesday. “It’s nice to put some runs on the board.”

Naperville Central (2-1) continued its recent mastery of a close rival. The Redhawks beat Benet twice in 2009 and twice again last year.

“It’s a pretty good rivalry, and our kids like to win rivalry games,” Nussbaum said. “This year I think we have a chance to be pretty good. I thought we were pretty good today, but we should be pretty good.”

Benet (9-3) had its seven-game winning streak end with a thud. Losing pitcher Allyson Staats (8-3), who had thrown four shutouts in the last week, was hit hard. The Redwings committed 7 errors — they had made 5 over 11 games coming in.

“We played as bad as we can play and Naperville Central played very well,” Benet coach Jerry Schilf said. “They hit the ball better than I expected them to hit the ball. It just shows you can have one of the best teams in the area and have a bad game. This was by far the worst game we’ve played in a long, long time.”

Naperville Central grabbed a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the first inning. In the second Doane drilled a 2-strike offering over the fence in right-center for her first varsity hit. Next up was Wunderlich, who crushed a no-doubter to left to make it 3-0.

“It felt pretty good off the bat,” Wunderlich said. “It was an inside pitch and I turned on it.”

Benet nicked Wunderlich for a pair of unearned runs in the third inning to pull within 3-2. But Naperville Central sent eight batters to the plate in a 4-run fifth and eight more in a 3-run sixth to blow it open.

Kelsey Gonzalez, who had 3 triples and a single on Wednesday, went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in 3 runs. Doane also doubled and drove in 3 runs and leadoff hitter Nicole Kappelman went 3-for-4, reached base four times and scored 3 runs.

Wunderlich (1-1) struggled with her command in an extra-inning loss to Hinsdale South Tuesday to open the season but was much sharper Thursday. She struck out six and scattered 5 hits and 2 walks to remain unbeaten against Benet.

“I definitely felt much better today,” Wunderlich said.

Maeve McGuire went 2-for-3 with a double and run scored for Benet, Nora McGuire was 2-for-3 and Ali Michalik doubled and scored a run.