Softball: Mustangs Ride Hot Start To Win

NAPERVILLE – Both Downers Grove South and Naperville Central knew that Thursday’s non-conference softball game would be a good barometer to see where each team was at early in the season.

It was Downers South that left with a good feeling.

The Mustangs jumped on Central starter Kristina Vizza, scoring five runs in the first and chasing her from the game before cruising to an 8-2 win. Both teams had just lost one-run games to state power Lockport in the past week, so the Mustangs were certainly satisfied to bounce back against the Redhawks.

“We’re starting to play better,” DGS coach Ron Havelka said. “It was a nice confidence builder for our team. I was really proud of how we played defense. We were really into the game. The kids played really well. I was really proud of them.”

Two errors with one out in the top of the first by Central (5-3 overall) led to the big inning. Katy LaCivita belted a two-run single for DGS (9-4), followed by RBI doubles from Emma Topps and Alyssa Magallanes to help build the 5-0 lead and chase the Loyola-bound Vizza (3-1) from the game.

“That helps, but you always know in the back of your mind that it may not be enough,” Havelka said. “We had a three-run lead against Lockport going into the bottom of the seventh, and they scored four. Our kids learned a lot from that game.”

Central brought its other Division I pitcher, Southern Illinois-bound Alyssa Wunderlich, in to stop the bleeding, and she was dominant for 4 1/3 innings. She struck out 11 in that span, six of them looking, to steady things for the Redhawks.

The Redhawks were hitting Downers South starter Jennifer Nichols (5-0). But they had trouble finding a clutch hit. A Kelsey Gonzalez double in the first had runners at second and third with one out, but the Redhawks didn’t score. Central left the bases loaded in the third. Even in the fourth and fifth, when Wunderlich and Gonzalez each doubled and scored for the Redhawks’ lone runs, they left runners on base. All told, they left nine on the bases in the loss.

“We definitely thought we still had a chance,” Gonzalez said. “We were only down 5-0 in the first inning. We knew we had the rest of the game. We just didn’t really execute. We left a lot of runners on base. We needed to get the clutch hits that we just didn’t get.”

With Central unable to mount a comeback, the Mustangs finally got to Wunderlich in the sixth, adding three insurance runs. Nichols doubled in two in that rally.

The Redhawks will play another tough team Saturday in Neuqua Valley, but Central coach Andy Nussbaum isn’t discouraged after consecutive losses to Lockport and DGS.

“I think we’re better than what we’ve played, but what I think doesn’t matter,” Nussbaum said. “We have to execute. We have to get the job done on the field. I like our team. I think we’re better than we played today. Hopefully, we’ll be able to right the ship. We have a lot of work to do. I think this team has great potential. We just have to play better.”

Meanwhile, the Mustangs are starting to feel good about themselves after the big win.

“We’re definitely finding our groove,” Topps said. “The funny thing is that as friends, we’re really sound. On the field, it just wasn’t coming together. But we’re playing better this week.”