An 'up' day for WW South
The coaches from both Glenbard East and Wheaton Warrenville South described their teams' seasons as up and down.
On Monday in Lombard, the visiting Tigers' outlook took an up turn with a 13-5 victory that included scoring 9 runs in the final two innings.
WW South (7-10, 2-4 DuPage Valley Conference) had only one hit and one baserunner during the first two innings, but finished with 15 hits over the final four innings.
"We struggled a little out of the gate. It was good to see our bats get hits up the middle and to the right side," said WW South coach Jeff Pawlak.
With the Tigers leading 4-1 after five innings, the team batted around in both the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, an RBI single by Jenna Pape and three fielding errors by the Rams brought about the three runs scored.
Pape was again a factor in the seventh as her triple cleared the bases for three runs. A single to right by Catie Hohnstein scored her.
Maggie Graham had a huge day for WW South with a 4-for-4 showing at the plate. Her final hit of the contest was an RBI single to center in the seventh that was another big hit of the inning.
The Tigers had scored three runs in the third and one in the fourth to take the lead and were assisted by RBI basehits from Jenny Harkabus and Graham in the third. The key blast in the fourth was a run-scoring double from Dani Ammons.
Taylor Blair was the winning pitcher, going the distance and striking out 7.
"We have been so up and down. We win some here, lose some here. We're just trying to get on a run going into the playoffs," Pawlak said.
Glenbard East coach Nikki Simpson sports a roster heavy on freshmen and sophomores, but spoke highly of her team's hitting ability and it was on display in the 3-run six inning. The Rams' bats heated up with four hits, including run-scoring doubles from Carissa Slobodecki and Marissa West. West's single to fourth brought home the Rams' first run of the game.
Glenbard East (2-13, 0-7) wasn't done hitting in the seventh when with one out, DoniBrooke Ross sent a pitch way over the left-field fence.
Simpson praised West and center fielder Kailey Lyons. Lyons, the Rams' leadoff hitter, finished with two hits and scored twice.
"They're both sophomores and great players that are always in the game (contributing)," she said.
The Glenbard East coach said a key to the Rams' development is to avoid the bad inning or two during a game that has plagued them and try to get out of them as quickly as possible when they do happen.
"We're a young team. We definitely had our ups and downs," she said.
The Rams return to action on their home field Wednesday against West Aurora. The Tigers host first-place Naperville Central on Tuesday. Both games begin at 4:30 p.m.