WW South wins duel with West Chicago

Wheaton Warrenville South outlasted West Chicago 2-1 in a softball pitchers' duel between the Tigers' Maddie Briggs and the Wildcats' Amy Goldsmith.

Both pitchers are juniors and had 11 strikeouts each, but in the end Arianna Caldarone hit a long triple driving in the winning runs to give the Tigers the win in Game 1 of a nonconference doubleheader Wednesday at The Rosemont Dome.

"This early in the year, I couldn't more happy with how Maddie pitched today," said Tigers coach Jeff Pawlak. "(West Chicago) has really good pitching. We know from last year with both their pitchers back. They're a tough team. They got a lot of speed and nice power in the middle. I'm really proud how our girls competed today."

With one out in the sixth inning, the Tigers' Catie Hohnstein singled. Pawlak went with Jen Mindock to pinch-hit for Brooke Wilson, and Mindock walked to put runners on first and second.

"(Mindock's) job was to get a bunt down," Pawlak said. "It didn't work out necessarily so quick. She had good plate discipline after that, she stayed off some tough pitches and she did her job and got to first base."

That set the stage for the game-winning triple, a solid drive to left field by Caldarone.

"I was just basically focusing to shorten up my swing and just try to make contact," Caldarone said. "(Goldsmith) kept throwing high, so I was trying to be was being smart in the box. We played together well as a team."

The Wildcats scored a run in the seventh inning. But with a runner in scoring position, Briggs (2-0) retired the next three batters, including the last two on strikeouts to end the rally.

"This was a good game for us in pressure situations," said Wildcats coach Kim Wallner. "I thought we put pressure on them at the end. We needed a hit here or there and we just didn't execute very well."

The Wildcats are a young team with 10 juniors on a 13-player roster that includes two seniors and a sophomore. They could manage only four hits and had a tough time putting the bat on the ball.

"I thought we were letting too many balls go by early on without swinging," Wallner said. "We had too many non-swinging strikeouts."

The Wildcats won the second game 4-3 in 8 innings behind winning pitcher Jenna Foreman (2-0). Taylor Blair (0-1) was the losing pitching for the Tigers.

The Tigers (2-1) were winning 3-2 after six innings, but the Wildcats (3-1) came back with a run in the seventh to tie the game and send it into the eighth inning.

In the eighth inning leadoff hitter Hannah Gehlhaar singled, stole second, went to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a wild pitch to put the Tigers ahead. Foreman closed out the Tigers three up and three down to seal the win.