Softball: Warren grabs first place in NSC with win over Mundelein

The battle for first place in the North Suburban Conference was a wild one when Warren met Mundelein on the softball diamond Monday afternoon in Gurnee.

The Blue Devils (14-5, 9-1) fell behind the Mustangs (12-4, 8-2) after four innings. But Warren exploded for 8 runs in the final three innings en route to an 8-6 NSC victory to take over sole possession of first place.

Due to ongoing renovations at Mundelein's field the contest was played at Warren, but the Mustangs were the home team on the scoreboard.

Trailing 3-0 in the top of the fifth, Warren's Lauren Jaronik and Adriana Burke singled. Mia Meno followed with an RBI single to right field before Burke scored on a wild pitch to cut the margin to 3-2. Then on a 2-2 pitch, senior Annalise Stich hit a 2-run homer to left field off Shae Johnson to give the Blue Devils a 4-3 lead.

“It was really a team win and that's what it takes to beat a really good program like them,” said Warren coach Jenna Charbonneau, whose team beat Mundelein 6-0 on April 8. “Annalise is always one pitch away from changing the game.”

Burke doubled to left field to start a rally in the top of the seventh. Then Stich was intentionally walked with two outs before an RBI single by Cassie Gabbianelli made the score 5-3. A 2-run double off the left-field fence by Peyton Nissen made the score 7-3 before Nissen scored on a wild pitch for an 8-3 lead.

“My approach was I just need to get a hit, and I was just trying to get a hit (not a homer),” said Stich, who has 4 home runs this season. “Our goal is to keep playing strong, keep putting in 100% effort, and never give up.”

Down 8-3, the Mustangs never gave up in the bottom of the seventh as Shea Eaman walked with one out before Avi Perez was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second.

Eaman moved to third on an error before scoring when Casey Vyverman reached base on an infield error. Then Johnson's RBI single drove in Perez before Devin Hill reached base on another error as Vyverman scored to cut the deficit to 8-6.

Warren lefty Camryn Guldberg pitched the first 5 innings on the mound to get the win. Burke pitched the final two innings, and she struck out the final two batters to end the game.

Senior Emily Courtney reached base on an infield hit and eventually scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Johnson singled and scored on a two-out RBI infield single by Sarah Benes in the bottom of the fourth. Then Benes scored on a two-out RBI single by Courtney to make the score 3-0.

“I give our team credit, we were down pretty big there going into the bottom of the seventh and I was really proud of the fight we showed there,” said Mundelein coach Heather Ryan. “Warren is always really good offensively, but I thought Shae (Johnson) threw a great game with 14 strikeouts against them and we hit the ball much better than we did the first time around against them.”