Marshall, Naperville North swipe victory from Wheaton North

Naperville North's dugout likes to serenade Sammy Marshall after infield hits and stolen bases with a chant of "that's Sammy and she's fast. Very, very fast."

Huskies opponents don't need reminding.

Marshall had 3 of Naperville North's 6 steals and reached base all four times with 3 singles in a 6-0 win over Wheaton North on Friday in Naperville.

Marshall, whose on-base percentage this year is near .700, has stolen 30 bases and been caught only twice. One of those was when she was called out for leading off.

She's been timed from home to first at 2.55 seconds, what Huskies coach Jerry Kedziora calls "college."

"You know she's freakishly fast," Kedziora said of the Western Illinois recruit, "and I think she's even faster this year. She's making things happen, getting on base and our girls are fighting over themselves to be the one to drive her in."

Naperville North's aggressive baserunning gave Wheaton North fits. Marshall hit the first pitch of the bottom of the first for an infield hit, stole second and came around to score on an RBI groundout. Caitlyn Warren scored a second run when the throw to try to get Marshall sailed wide of home plate.

Lauren Clouston scored on a double steal in the third inning, and in the fourth Marshall swiped second and third and scored on an RBI groundout to make it 6-0.

"We worked on defending that (the running game) all day in practice Thursday," said Wheaton North coach Karen Calabrese, whose team committed three errors over the first four innings. "We just didn't execute."

Jess Stapleton also slid under the catcher's tag on a Michelle Cavoto second-inning double.

"Every day it seems like I'm pleased with something different with this team. Today it was our baserunning," Marshall said. "We capitalized on their mistakes and took the extra base."

Surging Naperville North (13-8, 5-1 DuPage Valley Conference), 11-3 over its last 14 games, pulled into a tie with West Chicago for the DVC lead and hosts the Wildcats on Monday.

"We're sitting pretty right now," Marshall said. "Right now we're not fearing anybody."

Emily Dieckmann (7-3) pitched her second shutout of the week, scattering 8 hits with strong defense behind her.

"Ten of our last 12 losses last year were by 1 run," Kedziora said. "We're not making those costly mistakes this year."

Wheaton North (14-5, 2-4), shut out for the second straight game, stranded 8 runners. Nine outs came on pop-ups or flyballs.

Leadoff hitter Elisabeth Holaway did reach base twice and made a great running cath in center field to rob Clouston of an extra-base hit in the fifth.

"We popped the ball up so much because we're trying to go get the ball. That's what we've been doing all week," Calabrese said. "The girls are hungry for a hit and not relaxing, not trusting themselves as a team."