West Chicago can’t solve Wunderlich
A no-hitter, Alyssa Wunderlich could live without Saturday.
“As long as we won,” said the Naperville Central senior, “I was happy.”
Wunderlich did just that, coming two outs away from a no-hitter to beat No. 12 West Chicago 1-0 in Naperville.
No. 9 Naperville Central (16-6, 7-2 DuPage Valley Conference), which entered Saturday two games back of DVC leader West Chicago (15-7, 8-1) needed a victory to stay within striking distance after a loss Friday at Wheaton Warrenville South.
“Independent of yesterday, we needed to win today,” Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said. “Losing today, we would have lost control of our destiny. Where we had a little bit of margin for error before, now we have zero. Every game from here on out is a conference championship game for us.”
The matchup between perhaps DuPage County’s two best pitchers didn’t disappoint. West Chicago’s Mary Connolly (13-5) didn’t allow a hit after getting touched for a run in the first inning, striking out seven.
Wunderlich (9-3) was up to the challenge. She struck out seven of West Chicago’s first 10 batters, and only one baserunner reached second base until the seventh.
With one out West Chicago’s Jen Konchar blooped a single just over the reach of Redhawks second baseman Nicole Kappelman into short center for the first hit.
Rachael Venchus next drew a four-pitch walk, but Wunderlich came back for strikeouts eight and nine to end the game.
“They definitely put the pressure on in the seventh, but I just relaxed as much as I could and took it one pitch at a time,” Wunderlich said. “I knew it was going to be close; we weren’t getting that many runs off of Mary.”
Wunderlich, who threw her third one-hitter of the season, has allowed just 4 runs over her last 54 innings.
“Just oustanding,” Nussbaum said. “What more can you say? She was just outstanding.”
Naperville Central, which improved to 7-3 in one-run games, got things started in the bottom of the first. With two outs Kelsey Gonzalez doubled to center field, and Meghan Griffin followed with a bouncing single between second and first base into right to score Gonzalez.
“Connolly’s been tough on us all four years I’ve played,” Griffin said. “We had to score early and get the clutch hits. It’s not always how many hits you get, but when you get them.”
West Chicago had its eight-game winning streak snapped, settling for a 5-1 week that saw the Wildcats grab control of the DVC race. They get a much-needed day off before going to Glenbard North Monday.
“I’m proud of what my team accomplished this week. There are a lot of teams that didn’t play as consistently as we have,” Wildcats coach Kim Wallner said. “I’ll take my defense right now and Mary any day. You just gotta tip your hat to their pitcher.”