Glenbard North stops Naperville North
It's only Wednesday, but boy, oh boy has Glenbard North's Cece Dopart had some kind of week.
The Panthers pitcher shut out Naperville North 8-0 with a 2-hitter that kept her team tied atop the DuPage Valley Conference standings with Naperville Central. She also had a 2-run double and just missed a home run with a deep fly to left field in the seventh.
Dopart started the week with a five-inning masterpiece against Wheaton North on Monday in a game in which she tossed a no-hitter, recorded all 15 outs with strikeouts and also belted a pair of home runs. On Tuesday she struck out 14 Huskies in a 4-2 win over Naperville North, meaning she has allowed just 2 runs in 19 innings while striking out 38 batters so far this week.
"I can't say enough about how well she's pitched over the last two days. That's a good-hitting Naperville North team, and we've seen what they can do," Glenbard North coach Josh Sanew said. "I thought she hit her spots. She was popping the ball again today and when you throw in a little off speed stuff, she's been awfully, awfully tough."
You don't have to tell Naperville North. The Huskies (12-9, 4-3) scored twice in the first inning and then were blanked the next 13 innings against Dopart.
"It definitely feels good to be up there at the top of the conference," said Dopart, who helped the Panthers improve to 16-4 overall and 7-1 in conference. "We've been playing hard. Today I got in a good rhythm and everything was working. I have a lot of confidence in my defense to make plays, and that and our offense makes it easy to pitch."
The Panthers scored an unearned run in the second inning and then took charge with a 5-run third inning that featured Dopart's bases-loaded double, a leadoff double by Sydney Benz and an RBI double by Heather Sperlazzo, who went 3-for-4 with 3 runs scored.
"Yesterday we were, like, pretty much on her, but we couldn't execute with runners in scoring position. But today we had hits back to back and everyone worked together as a team and just got the job done," Sperlazzo said about the team's success Wednesday against Huskies starter Dani Biesiada.
Glenbard North had 10 hits against three Naperville North pitchers, including the first home run of the season for freshman Kayla Quanstrom.
"We hit the ball hard all day," Sanew said. "Everyone got up there and looked to attack."
Huskies coach Jerry Kedziora hopes to get his squad back on track with conference games Thursday againstWheaton North and a Friday makeup against Lake Park.
"She's thrown well the last two days against us," he said of Dopart, now 15-3. "We only got 5 hits yesterday and then 2 today. She's having a great week.
"We didn't have an answer for her. It's been a tough couple days."