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Softball: Wauconda blows out Grant

The Wauconda softball team scored early and often Tuesday afternoon as the Bulldogs put together a strong performance in every facet of their game against visiting Grant.

The battle of the Bulldogs saw Grant take a 1-0 lead after a half an inning of play. But Wauconda took command of the contest the rest of the way as the host Bulldogs rolled to an 11-1 Northern Lake County Conference victory in six innings.

Grant (8-6,1-2) jumped on winning pitcher Rachel Peat right away in the top of the first inning. Freshman Brianne Lopez led off the game with a single to left field before scoring on an RBI double to center field by teammate Shelby Wasilewski for a quick 1-0 advantage.

But Wauconda (11-6, 3-2) responded right away against Grant starting pitcher Wasilewski as Lily Jurczyk reached base on an infield hit with one out before scoring on an RBI double to right field by junior teammate Bryn Lucht (2-for-2, 3 runs, 2 walks) to deadlock the score at 1-1.

The host Bulldogs got on the scoreboard again in the bottom of the second as junior Savannah Powers led off with a double to center field before scoring on teammate Haley Baldwin's RBI single to left to give Wauconda the lead for good.

The bottom of the third inning proved to be the real difference-maker for Wauconda as it scored 5 runs on 4 hits to take a commanding 7-1 lead over the visitors.

"Rachel (Peat) has been grinding it. Her and Calli (Janik) are on the same page doing a nice job calling the game, and she's executing pitches," said Wauconda coach Tim Orisek, whose team pounded out 13 hits. "We had some good at-bats, we had a lot of multihit games, and we ran the bases aggressively."

A one-out walk by Lucht started Wauconda's third-inning rally before Taylor Koehler singled to center field. Then Janik nailed an RBI double to right-center for a 3-1 lead before a fielder's choice RBI by Powers made the score 4-1.

Bella Antonucci followed with an RBI infield hit before Baldwin singled. Then No. 9 hitter Alyssa Vodicka reached base on an error as two runs scored on the play for the 7-1 lead.

Wauconda got RBI singles from Janik and Powers in the bottom of the fourth as Lucht and Janik scored to boost the lead to 9-1 as Grant's defense struggled in the field.

Then with one out in the bottom of the sixth, Lucht and Koehler reached base on singles before scoring the 10th and 11th runs aided by a Grant error to put the finishing touches on the 10-run rule victory.

"I think our pitcher did great. We had good defense in the field, and our defense does well under pressure," said Lucht, who robbed Lopez of a single with a diving catch in center field in the top of the fifth. "We have been doing well. I think we did well even after they changed their pitcher."

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