Softball: Big inning propels Waubonsie Valley past Naperville North
Monday's 18-8 victory by the Waubonsie Valley softball team over Naperville North in regional quarterfinal play showed the Warriors' best trait.
Their timing of late has been impeccable.
"In the past four games (including Monday) we have scored 54 runs and are 3-1," said Waubonsie coach Val Wood. "We're peaking at the right time."
The Warriors (11-21), seeded 16th in the Class 4A Bolingbrook sectional, continue regional play Tuesday in Yorkville with a semifinal contest against top-seeded Geneva.
Waubonsie finished the six-inning battle with 19 hits against the 17th-seeded Huskies (6-26), including 9 in the 13-run fourth. Six of the 19 hits were doubles.
"They're attacking the ball. They're taking the bad pitches and swinging at the good ones," Wood said.
It was an even game through three innings.
The Huskies struck first when leadoff hitter Janelle Honaker doubled to left and scored on Emma Johannes' groundout. The Warriors took a 2-1 advantage in their half of the first as Tiffany Kula singled to right and Sabrina Scardamaglia doubled to left. That set the stage for Caleigh Cramer, who connected on her first of 3 hits in the game, a double, that scored both runners.
Cramer finished with 4 RBI and went 3-for-4 at the plate. She hit a 2-run single in the 13-run fourth inning.
"It was a little rough going into today. But I have been working at keeping my weight back and staying through the ball," Cramer said of her hitting.
Naperville North took a 4-2 lead in the second thanks to two run-scoring doubles by Johannes and Callie Ladone and a run-scoring groundout by Maya Tucker.
Waubonsie tied the contest at 4 with a run in the second and third. Veronica Zahn's single led to the run in the second and Alyssa Morris' double in the third led to the Warriors' scoring their fourth run. Zahn also finished 3-for-4. Morris also finished with 3 hits.
Then came the 13-run fourth inning that broke the contest open. Michele Calabrese also had a 2-run double that inning, and Jordan Bennema had the biggest blast, a 3-run double.
However, Naperville North did not go away easily. The Huskies scored 4 runs on 5 hits to keep the 10-run rule at bay for one more inning. A 2-run single by Sarah Smith and RBI basehits by Brooke Reed and Allison Arnold sparked the rally.
"I was tickled pink at that," said Huskies coach Jerry Kedziora. "None of the girls gave up. Everybody hung in there."
The majority of the Naperville North roster returns in 2018, and Kedziora believes the players have learned what is needed to succeed.
"They know what it takes and what is needed to win 20 games. We play against some tough teams," he said. "They've learned what it takes to hit and pitchers know what to do to hit their spots and what happens when they don't."