(Sugar Grove, IL.) – Waubonsee Community College hosted Joliet Junior College on Friday morning in a non-conference doubleheader. The Chiefs (21-16) rallied late and then held on to win the opener 12-9 on the strength of Alyssa Perkins' powerful bat. The Wolves (19-19) turned the tables on Waubonsee in game two by staging a rally of their own and then holding on for a 9-6 win to gain a split of their twin bill.
Joliet jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning. Lea Herkel smashed a one-out double off the top of the left center field fence against Waubonsee starter Avery Lundblad. A single to left by Isabella Hanson drove in Herkel before Skylar Welcome lined a single to left. The Chiefs' Julia Hupp came up firing throwing a one-hop strike to home as catcher McKenna Ignasak tagged Hanson out. However, the Wolves' Taylor Wells followed with a two-run homer that just cleared the fence for a 3-0 Joliet lead.
Waubonsee responded in their half of the first as Ionicca Rivera lofted a lead-off double to right center field. Bree Crosby then coaxed a walk before Brooke Pfeiffer dropped down a bunt in front of home plate. The ensuing throw to first sailed into right field and Rivera scored easily. With runners at second and third Perkins drilled a line shot down the left field line that landed just inside the foul stripe for a two-run double to knot the score at 3-all. Hupp then hit a ground ball that Joliet shortstop Samantha Rios bobbled, allowing Hupp to beat the throw to first as Perkins scored to give the Chiefs a 4-3 lead.
Waubonsee tallied another run in the bottom of the second when speedy right fielder Maya Brito reached base on an infield tapper in front of the plate and then stole second base. One out later Brito took off for third on a pitch in the dirt and scored when the throw by Hanson trickled away from third baseman Alaina Moreno. The Wolves rallied in the top of the third taking back the lead 6-5 on Wells' second homer of the game, a towering opposite field two-run shot to right center field. Lundblad escaped any other further damage when Ignasak gunned down Rios trying to steal second, with Pfeiffer applying the tag to Rios' helmet just before she slid into the bag.
The Chiefs stranded the potential tying run at third in the bottom half of the third. Joliet threatened to add to its lead in the fourth getting two runners on base. Waubonsee head coach Hannah Tomasko elected to walk Hanson, who had ripped a pair of doubles already, to load the bases with two outs for the Wolves' clean-up hitter. The gamble paid off as Welcome flied out to Brito in right field to end the inning. Waubonsee had another chance to pull even in the bottom of the fourth getting a runner to second with one out. But the inning came to an end when Crosby smashed a shot that deflected off the glove of Wolves' pitcher Arianna Jentel right to Herkel at second baseman, who threw to first to get Crosby by half a step.
Waubonsee finally broke through in the fifth inning as Pfeiffer led off with a double to the left center field gap. Two pitches later Perkins rocketed a line shot two-run homer over the left field fence for her 13th long ball of the season to put the Chiefs ahead once more 7-6. Joliet got the potential tying run to third with two outs in the top of the sixth. But Lundblad got Herkel to pop out to second base for the third out. Waubonsee then scored two big insurance runs in their half of the sixth as Crosby launched a tape measure, no doubt two-out, two-run blast to left field to make it 9-6. The Chiefs continued to roll along adding a third run in the inning when Mackenzie Fraus, who had been robbed twice already on diving catches by Joliet defenders, ripped another liner off Moreno's glove and into left field to drive in Pfeiffer. A Wolves error then allowed another run and Waubonsee extended the lead to 12-6 on a first and third play, with Fraus stealing home.
Jenna Borgstrom came on in relief of Lundblad for the top of the seventh. However, Joliet's Welcome gave her a rude welcoming to the game by lofting a two-run homer to straight away center field. After a brief visit to the circle by Tomasko, Borgstrom retired the three of the next four batters with Jerilyn Staat snagging a pop up for the final out to secure Waubonsee's victory. Perkins finished the game 3 for 3 with a double, a home run, a walk, three runs scored and four driven in. Rivera and Pfeiffer each booked two hits as the Chiefs registered 11 hits for the game.
Borgstrom then started game two in the circle setting the Wolves down in order in the top of the first. Waubonsee jumped ahead in the bottom half of the first as Perkins continued her big offensive day. The sophomore first baseman, batting a robust .491 on the season coming into the at bat, smoked a two-run double down the left field line to give the Chiefs a quick 2-0 lead. Joliet got one of those runs back when Welcome ripped a solo home run to left field to lead off the second inning. Rivera answered right back in the bottom of the frame by blasting her first collegiate career home run to left field to make it 3-1. The Wolves then loaded the bases in the top of the third with one out and the heart of the Joliet lineup coming up. A two-run throwing error by the Chiefs allowed the visitors to tie the game at 3-all. A sacrifice fly out by Wells then put Joliet ahead 4-3 before an infield hit by Rios plated another run. The Wolves continued to their two-out scoring binge, pushing across three more runs with a pair of two-out singles to extend their lead to 8-3.
Looking to chip away at the deficit Waubonsee quickly loaded the bases in their half of the third on a hit batsman, error and single. Staat knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly to right and a second run came in on a ground out by Hupp to cut the Joliet lead to 8-5 before the Chiefs stranded a pair of runners. After Borgstrom retired the Wolves in the top of the fourth Waubonsee went back to work on offense. However, Brito was thrown out stealing and Rivera smacked a long drive to center field that Katie Johnske caught just before running into the fence. The Chiefs got two more runners on base with two outs, but Moreno enticed Perkins to fly out to left field for the third out.
That seemed to spark Joliet's bats once again as Johnske launched a drive to center that hit the top of the fence and came back in to play. The two-out double scored Welcome to give the Wolves a 9-5 lead. Waubonsee again threatened in their half of the inning as Fraus led off with a single to left and Staat drew a walk. Jentel came in to pitch for Joliet and Hupp greeted her with a single to shortstop to load the bases with no outs. But Waubonsee just managed to score one run on a ground out by Ignasak before Jentel worked out of the jam to preserve a three-run lead.
Morgan Iwanski came on in relief for the home team and made quick work of the Wolves in the top of the sixth, recording a pair of strikeouts. Trailing 9-6 the Chiefs ripped two hard hit balls with nothing to show for them to start the bottom of the frame. Perkins was then intentionally walked before Fraus flew out deep to left field as Joliet's Paige Borton hauled in the long drive just in front of the fence. Iwanski again set the Wolves down in order notching two more strikeouts. Down by three with three outs to go the Chiefs desperately needed base runners. But Jentel got the first two outs on a ground out and strikeout before Ignasak walked. Brito then reached when Avery Scheur's throw pulled Wells off the bag. Rivera stepped in representing the potential tying run with the game on the line. However, her hard-hit grounder was scooped up by Welcome who threw across to first for the final out.
Rivera finished 2 for 5 with a home run, two runs scored and a run batted in. Crosby and Fraus both went 2 for 4 with a run scored, while Perkins drove in two runs to increase her team-leading total to 48 on the season. For the game Waubonsee stranded nine runners on base and could not fully take advantage of four errors by the Wolves' defense. The Chiefs are in action again tomorrow, Saturday, April 19 when they host perennial power Kankakee Community College (29-13) beginning at noon.
