Neuqua Valley falls a hit short
Oh, for that one extra clutch hit.
Neuqua Valley coach Melissa Wilson was longing for one after the No. 9 seed came up on the short end of a 2-1 loss to No. 4 Plainfield Central at Wednesday’s Class 4A East Aurora sectional semifinal.
Opportunities to score were few and far between with Neuqua’s Jamie O’Brien and Plainfield Central’s Morgan Vogt dealing in a fast-paced 70-minute duel. Neuqua Valley needed one more base knock that never came.
“A double (short),” Wilson said. “I think we needed a double to get our runs across. It was a good game, they’re a good team and I knew it was going to be another close game. We needed one more big hit.”
Neuqua (22-16), seeking its first sectional win, will look back at the fourth inning as the one that could have made it happen.
Trailing 2-1, Neuqua got a leadoff single by Kelsey Dominguez, and Brooke Meyer reached on an error. Alyssa Domico dropped down a bunt, but when Vogt whirled and fired to third Dominguez was tagged out rounding the bag. Megan Hannigan walked to load the bases with one out, but Vogt got a first-pitch comebacker for a tailor-made inning-ending double play.
Neuqua jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but could have struck for more. O’Brien doubled to start the game, Kat Widup reached on a bunt single and one out later Dominguez squeezed in O’Brien. But two runners were left stranded.
“We can’t say we didn’t have opportunities,” Wilson said. “We definitely had opportunities.”
Plainfield Central (26-8) only managed 3 hits off O’Brien but made the most of them.
Rachel Egly drew a walk to lead off the third, and one out later Kaleigh Nagle doubled her in to tie it. O’Brien got two quick strikes on the next batter, Dominique Roa, before Roa served the 0-2 offering the opposite way to right to score Nagle with the go-ahead run.
“I was always taught that if there is a runner at second base, to hit it to right field,” said the right-handed hitting Roa, “so I hit it there.”
“Those two have been clutch for us all year,” Plainfield Central coach Anne Campbell said.
Egly robbed Dominguez of a single in the sixth with a lunging grab of a leadoff liner. In the seventh Roa made a risky, yet accurate throw to cut down the lead runner at second to thwart another Neuqua rally.
O’Brien (13-11) was a hard-luck losing pitcher, throwing two of her best games of the season in Neuqua’s last two. O’Brien shut out No. 1 seed Benet and struck out five in another gem Wednesday.
“Jamie has obviously grown so much as a pitcher,” Wilson said, “grown so much as a player. She’s young, but she’s a very talented player. I’m really excited to see what will happen in the future with her.”
A young Neuqua team finished strong, going 6-2 over its last eight games with wins over Bartlett, Naperville North and Benet. Widup, one of four Neuqua seniors, went 2-for-3 in her final game.
“Toward that end of the year we started playing some of the better teams and beating the better teams,” O’Brien said. “None of the seniors wanted their season to end, so we started playing better.”