Softball: Miller pitches, hits Naperville Central past Naperville North
Avery Miller couldn’t control the weather and, at times on Monday, she couldn’t control the strike zone. But nothing stopped her from controlling the game against rival Naperville North.
Miller worked around 12 walks and helped herself with 13 strikeouts in a 10-5 win over the Huskies that kept the Redhawks perfect at 3-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference while improving to 6-4 on the year.
The Naperville Central junior also belted a pair of home runs in the game, a 2-run shot in the third inning and then a solo blast that came in the sixth after a pair of lightning delays postponed the game for an hour.
“It’s really nice having that insurance with your teammates hitting the ball, knowing that they have my back,” Miller said after improving her record to 4-2 this spring. “Today was not one of my best days walking people left and right. So, it’s definitely nice to know they have my back.”
Miller walked the first three batters of the game and almost escaped the inning unscathed after retiring the next three hitters. But a two-out steal of home by Sara Rossi got the visitors on the board.
Naperville North’s 1-0 lead didn’t last long as Lacey Williams hit a 3-run homer to center field with two outs in the bottom half of the first that also brought home Cali Lenz and Natalie Lau. The Redhawks scored three more times in the third with two coming in on Miller’s blast just inside the left-field foul pole.
After the weather delay, Naperville North (2-10, 0-3) scored in the fourth inning without the benefit of a hit as Gabi Chmiel walked, stole second and third and came home on a wild pitch to close the gap to 6-2. The Redhawks, however, answered with their third 3-run inning, scoring three more times in the bottom of the fourth for a 9-2 lead.
“Lacey’s home run was huge, with two outs in the first,” Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said. “This team has been getting hits with two outs. It’s not just Lacie and Avery hitting the ball. The other day Fiona Brown hit two home runs against Metea and earlier in year Natalie Lau got a big home run against Oswego. We certainly have some girls that can hit.”
Despite the walks, Miller stayed in control and didn’t allow a hit until Addison Wade led off the fifth with a single for Naperville North. But Miller followed a force out with a pair of strikeouts to get out of the frame.
The Huskies did get a run in the sixth after Rossi doubled and eventually scored on a wild pitch, and the visitors tacked on two more in the seventh on a 2-run homer by catcher Reese Pedersen.
“That was not characteristic of her control wise, and yet she had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning,” Nusbaum said of Miller’s effort on the mound. “We’ve been pitching well with runners on base. It’s a league game and a win is a win.”
First-year Huskies coach Nick Lago, a former assistant coach with the Redhawks, wished his team could have taken better advantage of the three free passes to start the game.
“It would have been nice if we could have jumped on her early,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate, we started off hot and then everybody went cold at the same time. It’s just little things. They’re too good to continue struggling the whole season.
“We’re competing every single game. It’s not coming out our way, but it’s little lessons we’re learning each game.”