Top-ranked DuPage sweeps at Harper

The Harper College softball team looked to climb up the North Central Community College Conference standings Friday afternoon when it hosted No. 1-ranked College of DuPage.

The Chaparrals, however, had other ideas and swept the doubleheader 10-9 and 12-1.

Game 1 was the continuation of a game that started Thursday but was postponed with COD leading 5-3 and a runner in scoring position in the second inning. The Hawks escaped the second without further damage.

Harper (9-24, 8-10) took a brief lead in the third inning, scoring 5 runs to go ahead 8-5.

In the fourth inning, though, a Harper throwing error and some timely hitting by the Chaparrals led to a 4-run inning to put DuPage (40-5, 18-0) ahead for good.

The Hawks and Chaps exchanged late-inning runs to complete the scoring.

“I thought we were going to win Game 1,” said Harper coach Brenda James.

Two of the COD runs scored on inside-the-park homers. Freshman Kaysee Fitzpatrick (St. Viator) took the loss for Harper.

In Game 2, James called on Bynes to put an end to a 17-game conference winning streak by COD.

Harper’s normal Game 2 starter, Juliann Waite (Conant), was unavailable for the doubleheader as she recovers from a hamstring pull.

The Chaparrals produced a 4-run first inning. The Hawks scored their lone run when Aly Poehlmann (Schaumburg) hit a leadoff triple in the third inning. She score on the next at-bat when Samantha Bernstein (Crystal Lake South) hit into a force.

After COD led 7-1, the Chaparrals scored 3 more runs with the help of 4 Harper errors.

“We had too many errors,” said James of Game 2. “We are going to have to fix that.”