Softball: Joliet West cruises past Joliet Central in district showdown

JOLIET – Joliet West softball coach Heather Suca wanted her team to be aggressive at the plate and on the bases Wednesday in a drizzly Southwest Prairie Conference matchup against district rival Joliet Central.

Mission accomplished.

The Tigers (7-6, 3-0) amassed 13 hits, stole six bases and took several extra bases on throws to come away with a 17-2 victory in four innings.

“We swung the bats well,” Suca said. “We took advantage of the opportunities they gave us, we were aggressive on the bases, and Brooke [Schwall] pitched well.”

“I’m just glad we got the game in.”

Amid a constant drizzle that sometimes turned to all-out rain, Joliet Central (2-7, 0-3) drew first blood in the first inning.

Natalie Reyes led off the game with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Makayla Vinson. Alexandra Guzman (2 for 3) singled to left, putting runners on first and third, before Natalee Curry (2 for 2) drove home Reyes with an infield single to third. An out later, Cameron King reached on an error to load the bases, but West’s Brooke Schwall induced a grounder to first to leave the runners stranded.

West countered with five runs in the bottom of the first. Walks to Mackenize Dorris, Avery Houlihan and Schwall (2 for 3, double, RBI) loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Grace Cameron singled to left to score Dorris and Houlihan, with Schwall taking third and Cameron second on the throw home. A walk to Ava Nurczyk loaded the bases and Jamie Daniels (2 for 2, 2 RBIs) walked to force home Schwall. Hope Hughes followed with a single through the middle to score Cameron and Nurczyk for a 5-1 lead.

Schwall, who allowed four hits and struck out five in four innings, held the Steelmen scoreless in the second, and it looked like the Central would do the same to the Tigers after the first two West hitters were retired in the bottom. But, Caitlynn Baranak doubled and came home on an error on a ball hit by Cameron. Nurczyk followed with a single, and Daniels singled home Cameron, with Nurczyk reaching third. A throwing error on a ball hit to third by Hughes allowed Nurczyk and Daniels to score, and a bloop single just over the pitcher’s head by Shelby Fraser brought home Nurczyk.

“That’s been our problem in a lot of our losses, especially in conference games,” Central coach Jon Rashid said. “We give up the big inning. If we don’t give up five unearned runs in the second after two outs, we can start to chip away at the lead. Instead, it’s 10-1.”

Central got a run back in the third. Guzman and Curry each singled to lead off the inning and, after a strikeout, King grounded to short to bring home Guzman, who went to third on a wild pitch.

West did not score in the bottom of the third, but ended it in the fourth by scoring seven runs and invoking the 15-run rule.

Nurczyk led off the inning with a walk and was singled to second by Daniels. A walk to Hughes loaded the bases, and a single up the middle by Fraser (2 for 3, 3 RBIs) brought home Nurczyk and pinch-runner Karlie Kalkie. Dorris followed with a single through the middle to score both Hughes and Fraser. Houlihan followed with a double to left to score Dorris, and Schwall doubled to center, scoring Houlihan. Baranak ended it with a double to right that scored Schwall.