(Sugar Grove, IL) – Waubonsee Community College's softball team squared off against perennial NJCAA Region 4 power Kankakee Community College on Wednesday afternoon. Under a cloudless sky the Chiefs shined bright as they won the first game 8-0 in five innings. The Chiefs then rallied to win game two 5-3 to sweep the doubleheader and earn their 30th win of the season. The Chiefs (30-12) and Cavaliers (25-17) will likely both be top two or three seeds in the upcoming Region 4 Division II District A and B Tournaments, respectively.
In the opener each team had opportunites to score in the early innings. The Chiefs stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the first, while the Cavaliers did the same in the top of the second. Waubonsee then loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half of the frame, but Kankakee starting pitcher Kaitlynn Heale induced a pair of ground outs to escape the jam. A diving stop and sharp throw to first from her knees for an out by Katie Baker helped keep the visitors off the scoreboard in the top of the third as well. In the bottom half of the inning the Chiefs loaded the bases on an error and two singles with one out. However, Heale escaped unscathed as she fielded a comebacker and threw home to start an inning-ending double play.
The Chiefs finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth when Sarah Sandusky ripped a line shot through the legs of the Cavaliers' second baseman. The fleet-footed Sandusky rambled into second base when the ball rolled all the way to the right center field fence. Emily Hurst then followed with a rocket over the center field fence to extend her school record for home runs in a single season to 18. Two pitches later Baker smacked a double to the right center field gap and scored a minute later when Kayla Tranter laced a single down the right field line for a 3-0 Chiefs' lead.
Kankakee threatened once more in the top of the fifth but stranded two more runners on base, as Chiefs' starter Taylor Warren got Cavaliers' clean-up hitter Paxtyn Hicks to pop out to shortstop. Waubonsee utilized that momentum to put the game away by batting around in the bottom of the frame. Ariana Ikis reached on an infield hit and then stole second base. She scored a moment later when Sandusky singled to right field. After Hurst drew a walk, Baker reached on another infield hit to load the bases.
Warren then helped her own cause as she singled through the middle of the infield to drive in two runs and make it a 6-0 game. Not long after Kayla Tranter slapped a single to left field and Baker beat the throw home to set up a potential walk-off win scenario for the home team. Taylor Hamaker came through as she delivered a single to center and Warren narrowly slid in before a tag at the plate to score the eighth run putting the 8-run lead after five-innings slaughter-rule into effect.
Hamaker finished 4 for 4 to lead the Chiefs' offense as every player in the lineup registered at least one hit. Baker and Tranter both went 2 for 4, while Warren scattered six hits over five shutout innings with two strikeouts and one walk. The right-hander earned her 19th win and lowered her earned-run-average to 1.73 on the season.
In game two the Cavaliers got on the scoreboard first as Heale drilled a solo home run to straight away center field with two outs in the top of the third off Chiefs' starter Valerie Osthoff. Waubonsee pulled even in the bottom half of the inning as Ikis lead-off with an infield single when her bunt spun back toward foul territory and came to rest on home plate. She then stole second before Osthoff blooped a single over first base that allowed her move on to third base. Ikis scored a moment later when Hurst grounded out to shortstop to knot the score at one.
Things fell apart defensively for the Chiefs in the top of the fifth. An error, a perfectly placed bunt, and another defensive miscue by Waubonsee loaded the bases with no outs. A single to right by Hicks plated one run and a second came across when Mikayla Smith drew a walk. However, the Chiefs escaped further damage as Hamaker, who had come on in relief, got a strikeout and a double play to end the inning.
It didn't take long for Waubonsee to respond as three batters later Hurst launched a game-tying two-run shot well beyond the center field fence for her 19th round-tripper of the season to make it 3-all. Baker followed with a solid single to center and moved up to second base on a passed ball. The Chiefs then took the lead when Tranter smacked a two-out single to center to drive in Baker. Waubonsee added an insurance run a few pitches later when Sandusky grounded a single up the middle to knock in Tranter for a 5-3 lead for the home team with two innings to go.
Kankakee threatened in the top of the sixth before Chelsea Born snagged a line drive on the run in left field to end the inning and prevent the potential tying run from reaching base. The Chiefs clung to a 5-3 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning with the Cavaliers' three, four and five hitters due up. Hamaker retired the first two on a line out to second and a pop out to third. Smith then reached on an infield single to keep Kankakee's hopes alive, but a groundout ended the game as Waubonsee completed the impressive sweep.
Baker, Born and Ikis each finished with two hits apiece, while Hurst drove in two runs and Hamaker got the win in relief allowing just one run over three innings of work. The Chiefs are set to play again this coming Friday, May 5 when they travel to Crystal Lake to take on McHenry County College in a 3:00 p.m. twinbill. Coach Joe Spitzzeri's crew returns home on Saturday, May 6 when they host Highland Community College in a noon doubleheader to close out the regular season.