Softball: Naperville North bats bust loose in Game 2 of DH
Picture the Naperville North softball team like the latest sports car with the engine firing on all cylinders after Saturday's 20-10 five-inning victory over visiting Plainfield East in Game 2 of a doubleheader.
Two 3-run homers by Allison Arnold and Alaina Eyberger were the big part of an 8-run fifth inning that sealed the victory for the Huskies (8-6). Plainfield East (5-13) won the opening game 12-9.
Naperville North was more like a rusty lawn mower belching smoke at the beginning of Game 2 with a very bad performance defensively in the first inning and just racking up 2 hits over the first two innings.
After a team meeting between the second and third innings, the Huskies were a different team. After committing 5 errors in the opening inning, Naperville North did not commit another one. And the squad smashed 18 hits over the final three innings.
"We got on a roll. We get people on base and everyone hit. We didn't get it done in the first game," Arnold said.
The other big hit in the fifth was a 2-run single to left by Brooke Reed.
The Bengals led 9-1 in the third when the Huskies started finding their groove in their half of the inning. Three RBI singles by Alexis Hilgert, Reed and Amy Brennan and run-scoring groundball outs by Camelia Chelich and Arnold were key to Naperville North scoring 5 runs and pulling to within 9-6.
"You get a good hit and you see the entire team happy and everyone gets a hit," Eyberger said. "We started turning better plays and getting good hits."
The fourth inning saw Naperville North score 6 runs on 6 hits. Reed and Hilgert hit for RBI singles.
Reed finished with 4 hits and Eyberger, Hilgert and Chelich each had 3 hits.
Chelich was the winning pitcher, striking out four in two innings of work.
Plainfield East took a 12-4 lead in the top of the seventh in Game 1 before the Huskies answered for 5 runs in the bottom of the inning. Eyberger hit her first homer of the day, a 2-run shot with an RBI single by Sarah Smith and RBI groundball out by Kendall Kedziora sparking the rally. Eyberger and Kedziora each belted 2-run singles earlier in the contest.
"Everybody did something to win Game 2 and to stay in the first game," said Naperville North coach Jerry Kedziora.