Softball: Naperville North tops Neuqua Valley for 2nd straight win
It may just be two games in a long season, but for Naperville North's softball team, it may also represent a time when the Huskies turned the corner.
After a 1-8 start this spring, the Huskies battered Glenbard North Wednesday and then pulled out a tight, 5-4 win at Neuqua Valley on Friday to make it two straight wins in the DuPage Valley Conference.
Naperville North pitcher Dani Biesiada was sharp in both outings, winning 11-1 on Wednesday and then holding off a late rally by the Wildcats to make it two in a row.
"It feels really good to win two in a row," said Biesiada, who blanked Neuqua Valley for the first four innings Friday before the hosts scored four runs over the last three innings to make things interesting. "I'm really looking forward to hopefully keeping this pattern going."
The Huskies jumped ahead 4-0 with four runs in the second. Wildcats pitcher Kaley Grossman walked three batters in the inning, including a bases-loaded free pass to Janelle Honaker that drove home the game's first run. An outfield error then allowed three more runs to score and Neuqua Valley (3-6, 2-3) found itself down four runs early.
But Wildcats reliever Julia Rainer was sharp out of the bullpen, blanking the Huskies for four innings while the home team closed the gap to 4-3 with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
"It was a rough start. We came back at the end but it wasn't enough. The energy level was great and we always pick each other up. It was a good game," said Rainer, who was finally touched for a run in the top of the seventh.
Marissa Potter opened the bottom of the fifth with an infield single and later scored on a single by Rainer to make it 4-1. Zoe Herdman opened the sixth with her third hit of the game as the Wildcats closed to within 4-3 following an RBI single by Alex Ebert.
Naperville North (3-8, 2-3) however, picked up a crucial insurance run in seventh after Morgan Johannes laced a double to right center and came around on a two-out single from Alexis Hilgert.
"We needed that double, then Dani (Biesiada) came up with the big sacrifice bunt and Alexis Hilgert, who we only pulled up last weekend, came up with a big hit as a freshman," said Huskies coach Jerry Kedziora. "We brought her up to hit and catch for us and we need her to hit. It was good to see her relax and shoot the ball through the left side."
That run proved to be the game-winner after the Wildcats made it 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh when Mikaela Domico scored on a ground out off the bat of Danielle Olson. The game then ended on a sparkling diving catch in right by the Huskies' Sammy Watt.
"Today was some Huskie softball we hadn't seen in a while," Kedziora said. "We had girls getting dirty. Girls diving for balls. We had some girls making big plays and so I think we're stating to get some confidence."
Neuqua Valley coach Christina Frontera liked what she saw from her team in the second half of Friday's game.
"It comes down to hits and we just didn't have enough hits towards the front of the game," she said. "We got our hits later and put up a good fight, but we just didn't find a way to pull it out. We had energy going the whole entire game, it's just the comeback wasn't there enough."