Glenbard West goes on hitting binge

Glenbard West's offense got off to a slow start this season, but coach Mary McGrane has noticed steady improvement at the plate from her Hilltoppers the past few games.

That improvement boiled over into an outright hitting fest at Waubonsie Valley's expense during Game 1 of a nonconference doubleheader Saturday in Aurora.

Already leading 4-0 after three innings, the Hilltoppers exploded for a combined 13 runs on 13 hits over next two innings - including a 9-run fifth - en route to a 17-1 slaughter-rule victory over the Warriors.

"We played Lockport (Friday, a 4-2 loss), but we had 8 hits and left 6 runners on base," McGrane said. "It was nice to see them come out, be aggressive and attack the ball and really come through with runners in scoring position."

The Hilltoppers sent 13 hitters to the plate in the fifth inning, knocking out Warriors starter Becky Randall. Second baseman Michele Waggoner and third baseman Kelly Borneman each cracked 2-run singles, while Colleen Jenner added a 2-run double. Sarah Steinhilber also delivered a run-scoring double.

Waggoner, who finished with 3 hits and 5 RBIs, said the Hilltoppers have been working on their mental approach to the game. Their preparation obviously paid dividends big-time in Game 1.

"We've been working on being mentally there right from the first pitch. And we were all mentally there today," said Waggoner, who added a 2-run double during the Hilltoppers' 4-run fourth inning. "We had all of our teammates behind us. Everyone was confident in each other, and it was a real team effort."

Leadoff hitter Bri Wyatt also had a big game for Glenbard West, going 4-for-5 with a triple, a double and 4 runs scored.

"Our catalyst right now is Bri," McGrane said. "When Bri gets on base, I think it feeds the rest of the kids, and they become more confident and we can get a lot of things going. Michele swung the bat well today. Kelly Borneman did, Colleen (did), so it was nice to see the middle to the bottom of the lineup produce."

Borneman, Jenner, Steinhilber and Rachel Hitzemann also finished with multi-hit games for the Hilltoppers (3-5). Not to be overlooked in Glenbard West's hitting exhibition, however, was the pitching of freshman right-hander Caity Schoenfeld, who scattered six hits.

"Taylor Steinhilber has been our go-to pitcher," McGrane said, "but Taylor had the ACT (Saturday), so we brought up Caity to pitch and she pitched a good game."

Haylie Wenzel's fourth-inning double drove in Jackie Kreiner with the only run of the game for Waubonsie Valley (2-7), which committed 3 errors during the first 3 innings - a defensive lapse Warriors coach Jennifer Jennings said is uncharacteristic of her squad.

"Our overthrows, they killed us," Jennings said. "That's the first game we've ever had throwing errors, so I'm a little miffed about that. We've been playing decent. They don't communicate as well as I'd like them to. There's not a lot of conversation on the field, and I'm just really trying to get that going. They're getting there."

The Warriors' No. 1 pitcher, Lauren Thresh, wasn't available on Saturday because of a school-related commitment. Randall, Waubonsie Valley's No. 3 pitcher, got the nod to start in Game 1 while No. 2 starter Lindsey Jozefowicz pitched Game 2 because she had already thrown 7 innings during Friday's 9-1 win over Elgin.

"We didn't want her to go back-to-back (games)," Jennings said.