(Sugar Grove, IL) – After a tough one-run loss in the opener, Waubonsee Community College's softball team responded in a big way Tuesday afternoon to earn a split of their Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) twinbill against Elgin Community College. The visiting Spartans (2-4, 1-1) pulled out a thrilling 7-6 victory in game one with the Chiefs leaving the bases loaded to end the game. Waubonsee (5-7, 1-1) then smacked four home runs in game two on the way to a 12-0 slaughter-rule victory in five innings.
Game one was a back and forth affair from the very beginning. Elgin scored a run in the top of the first inning before the Chiefs tied it as Alyssa Eby led off with a double down the left field line and scored two batters later on a wild pitch. The Spartans' pushed across another run in the second inning before Waubonsee again responded. Eby laced a one-out double to right center field to drive in Rachel Prinz and Jori Peters to put the Chiefs in front 3-2.
Elgin's Amelia Jimenez then led off the third inning by hitting a home run to right center field to tie the game. A two-out single to center field by Giselle Velazquez knocked in another run to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead. However, that lead was short lived as the Chiefs quickly answered back once more. Lexi McCauley drew a lead off walk, Jessica Wilson chipped a bloop single to right field, and Grace Klingbeil singled to center to load the bases with no outs. A minute later McCauley scored on a fielder's choice ground out by Prinz to knot the score at 4-all. Two batters later Eby drilled a two-run single to center to put the Chiefs in front 6-4.
Abby Sanders came on in relief of Waubonsee starter Allison Ryan in the top of the fourth and set down the Spartans in order. The Chiefs threatened to score in their half of the fourth before stranding a pair of runners. Jimenez, who had come in to pitch in the third inning, was then hit by a pitch to begin Elgin's fifth inning and moved up to second base on a ground out. A moment later the Spartans' Haley Geistler grounded out to shortstop and Jimenez belatedly took off for third base, barely beating the throw across the infield by Klingbeil. However, Jimenez twisted her knee sliding into third and play was halted several minutes while Chiefs' Athletic Trainer Tarah Geye attended to her. When play resumed Elgin's Corinne Angle ripped the first pitch over the left field fence to abruptly tie the game at six.
Jimenez then tried to return to the pitching circle in the bottom of the fifth, but was unable to continue after attempting a few warm up pitches. Taylor Crocilla came in to pitch for the Spartans and quickly retired the first two batters she faced. Eby then drew a two-out walk and promptly stole second. Two pitches later she drew a throw to second base from the Spartans' catcher and took off for third base. When the throw sailed into center field Eby rounded third and sprinted for home, but was gunned down at the plate by center fielder Natalie Stumph for the third out.
The game remained tied at 6-all until there were two outs in the top of the seventh inning. That's when Stumph again played the role of hero for Elgin as she drilled a line shot home run over the left field fence to give the Spartans a 7-6 lead. The Chiefs then loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh on a fielding error and a pair of two-out walks by Eby and Megan White. However, Crocilla was able to get Waubonsee's Gracyn Gabriel to swing through a high fastball for strike three to end the game. Eby finished the game 3 for 3 at the plate, her sixth multi-hit game of the season. The sophomore also had four runs batted in, two walks, two stolen bases and a run scored to lead the Chiefs' offense. Wilson went 2 for 4, while Gabriel and McCauley each walked three times as Waubonsee was unable to take advantage of 11 walks overall by three Elgin pitchers.
Per ISCC rules the Chiefs were the visiting team in game two. Waubonsee quickly jumped on the Spartans by scoring three times in the top of the first and never looked back. Jesika Lowe smacked a two-run single to center and attempted to go to third on the Spartans' throw to the plate. However, Lowe never had to break stride as the throw to third bounced into left field allowing her to scamper home as well. Waubonsee's Ronnie Latka then ripped a solo home run to left field in the second to make it 4-0.
The Chiefs then broke the game open in the top of the third inning by tallying three more runs as White led off the frame with a home run to left center field. Crocilla came on in relief of Geistler to try and keep the Spartans in the game. However, this time around the Chiefs were able to get to the right-hander. McCauley drilled a one-out, run-scoring double to left and two batters later Klingbeil did the same to drive in McCauley for a 7-0 Chiefs' lead.
Meanwhile, Lowe was mowing down the Spartans' lineup, finally surrendering the first Elgin hit with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Waubonsee then put the game away with a five-run fifth inning. A two-run triple to right center by Klingbeil got things going, and she scored a moment later on a fielder's choice ground out by Latka. Peters, the number nine hitter in the Chiefs' lineup, followed by rocketing a home run to left center field. Two batters later White then launched a prodigious home run, her second of the game and third of the season, well beyond the left field fence for a 12-0 Waubonsee lead.
Wilson allowed two more hits in the bottom half of the fifth before getting the final out to finish with a three-hit shutout. White finished the game 3 for 3 with two home runs, two runs driven in, a walk and three runs scored. McCauley also went 3 for 3 with a double, a run batted in and two runs scored, while Klingbeil ended the game 3 for 3 with a double, a triple, three runs knocked in and a run scored.
The Chiefs are set to play doubleheaders the next two days at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights and at the College of Lake County in Grayslake. Waubonsee is scheduled to return home this coming Friday, April 9 to host Bryant & Stratton College from Wisconsin in a pair of games beginning at noon. Fans are allowed at games on the Sugar Grove campus as long as they wear masks and adhere to social distancing protocols.