Softball: Six-run inning leads to Naperville Central loss
Updated: April 23, 2012 9:37PM
With two outs and nobody on in the top of the seventh, it looked like Glenbard North pitcher Lilly Fecho would enter the bottom of the inning against streaking Naperville Central with a two-run lead.
How quickly things changed.
Six hits and two pivotal errors later that cushion turned into a misleading 9-1 DuPage Valley conference win for the No. 2 Panthers (18-0, 4-0). Fecho struck out the side for the final three outs, ending the No. 14 Redhawks’ 12-game winning streak.
“It’s great when your team just doesn’t settle down and to add more runs like we did was great,” said Fecho, who admitted not knowing about her opponents’ winning streak. “You can’t think about that stuff, you just have to play the team and make your part.”
The Purdue-bound senior struck out 11 and scattered four hits while improving to 13-0. She allowed the only run in the first on an RBI single from Kelsey Gonzalez that scored leadoff hitter Nicole Kappelman, who walked to start the inning.
The Panthers added two in the second and another in the sixth to take the lead for good 3-1. Two of the Redhawks’ four errors on the day and an RBI single by Heather Sperlazzo (2-for-4, 3 RBI) keyed the second.
In that seventh inning with two out and nobody on, Loyola-bound pitcher Kristina Vizza, who gave up just one earned run, gave up consecutive singles by Alex Caliva (3-for-4) and Kelsey Muller. Four more hits and two errors later the Panthers turned the order over and scored six in the inning. Sophomore Keegan Hayes came on in relief and got Bri Harn to fly out to left to end the inning.
“This was a winnable game,” Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said. “We just made mistakes a championship level team can’t make. I probably should have taken Vizza out four batters earlier but the cat was already out of the bag.”
Sydney Benz was 2-for-4 on the day while Fecho scored three runs and added an infield hit in the sixth while reaching the other two times on errors.
“We got away with some runs in the seventh,” Glenbard North coach Josh Sanew said. “Lilly threw lights out the rest of the game after that first inning.”
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