(Sugar Grove, IL) – Waubonsee Community College hosted nationally-ranked Black Hawk College on a sunny and warm Wednesday afternoon. The Braves (40-12) ranked 18th in the latest NJCAA Division II poll, and the Chiefs (18-26) split their non-conference doubleheader with the visitors taking game one 11-1 in seven innings and Waubonsee bouncing back to win game two 7-4.
In the opener Black Hawk pushed across a pair of runs in the top of the first off Waubonsee starter Josh Quezada. A sacrifice fly to center field plated the first run and then Noah Young hit a soft liner just out of the reach of the Chiefs' 6'3" shortstop Chazz Crook for a two-out, run-scoring single. The Braves loaded the bases before Quezada worked out of the jam getting a fielder's choice ground out. The contest remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fourth when the Chiefs got on the board with three singles, the third one being a perfectly executed two-out drag bunt by Aidan Sheehan to score Ryan Buck. However, Black Hawk starter Connor Schimmel worked out of a bases loaded jam as the visitors held on to a 2-1 lead.
The Braves then quickly got some breathing room taking advantage of a pair of walks to start the top of the fifth. After a double steal, Colton Musgrave slapped a two-run single over the third base bag and Elmer Figueroa followed with a line-shot double to the base of the center field fence to suddenly make it 5-1, chasing Chiefs' reliever Gabriel Kenah from the game. A Chiefs' error allowed a sixth Black Hawk run to score giving Schimmel a more comfortable lead. Joel Lively led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to straight away center field as the Chiefs looked to cut into the deficit. He was at third base two batters later when Black Hawk third baseman Beau Honeycutt dove to his right to snag a two-hopper over the bag, robbing Sheehan of a potential double. Lively was caught in no man's land and was tagged out after a short rundown, keeping the Chiefs off the board.
Black Hawk utilized that momentum to blow the game open scoring five times in the top of the seventh on just one hit to make it 11-1. For the game the Braves took full advantage of 10 walks and two hit batsmen surrendered by four Chiefs' pitchers, to go along with four Waubonsee errors to score 11 runs on just five hits. Schimmel scattered eight hits and allowed just one earned run in a complete game win, improving his record to 5-0 and lowering his earned run average to 1.59 for the season.
Game two started out the exact opposite of the opener as the Chiefs batted around in the bottom of the first inning. Joel Johnson drew a walk to start things and Donavan Zielke followed with a single through the left side of the infield to put runners at first and second. Buck then smacked a shot that hit first base and caromed down the right field line for a run-scoring double. Zielke scored two pitches later on a passed ball and Jonny Marquez slapped a single past short to drive in Buck. Two batters later Eric Gonzalez ripped a double to right center to put two runners in scoring position. But Waubonsee eventually left the bases loaded and headed to the second inning in front 3-0.
Waubonsee scored a fourth run in the second with a little more good fortune as Marquez drove in Zielke with a two-out, two-hopper that again hit the first base bag and ricocheted into right field. However, Black Hawk broke through in the top of the third when Thomas DeBrower registered the Braves first hit with a two-out single through the left side. Jean Cortes then lined a double to right center and Matthew Mateo ripped a single to right to quickly cut the Chiefs' lead in half. Waubonsee responded immediately in the bottom half of the frame as Gonzalez drilled a lead-off triple to the left center field fence. Sheehan then bounced a single up the middle to make it 5-2 and he came in to score on a two-out, two-strike wild pitch.
The Chiefs turned a 6-4-3 double play in the top of the fourth in support of starting pitcher Thomas Fowler. Black Hawk threatened again in the top of the fifth getting runners on the corners to knock the big right-hander from the game. Both runners scored as the Braves executed a double steal and Jean Cortes tapped a run-scoring single over the third base bag. But Chiefs' reliever Gabriel Knowles escaped further damage to allow Waubonsee to maintain a 6-4 lead. The Chiefs' defense then stepped up as Mateo drilled the ball into the left center field alley. However, Lively ran the ball down and made a fantastic over-the-shoulder diving catch for the first out of the sixth inning. That turned out to be a big play as the Braves got the next two batters on base before Knowles registered back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
The Chiefs were able to add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth as Zielke smacked a one-out single to left field. He moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground out, eventually scoring on a passed ball with two outs. After Knowles retired the first two hitters the next two Braves' batters reached base to bring the potential tying run to the plate in the form of the power-hitting Figueroa, who entered the day with eight home runs on the season. Nate Ross came on in relief for Waubonsee and eventually walked Figueroa after an eight-pitch battle to load the bases. The right-hander then induced a fly ball to left field that Johnson hauled in to end the game.
Gonzalez finished 2 for 3 with a double, a triple and a run scored to lead the Chiefs' offense. Zielke also recorded two hits and scored three times, and Marquez went 2 for 2 with two runs batted in. Fowler earned the win on the mound, while Knowles garnered a hold and Ross was credited with the save. Waubonsee hosts Triton College (16-30) this coming Friday, May 3 in a doubleheader beginning at 2:30 p.m. The Chiefs are also at home on Saturday, May 4 as they welcome McHenry County College (36-11) to Sugar Grove for a noon doubleheader.