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Big inning boosts Waubonsie Valley
Updated: May 4, 2011 10:58PM
Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives ... it is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
While Darwin wasn’t thinking of the Waubonsie Valley softball team when he said his famous line, it was the Warriors adapting to change that led them to a 9-4 victory over South Elgin on Wednesday at Waubonsie.
After stranding six runners Tuesday in its 10-4 loss against Metea Valley, Waubonsie stranded eight through five innings and held a mere 3-2 edge against the Storm. However, the Warriors (8-14, 5-7) found their offense in the sixth inning and scored six runs to put the game out of reach. Waubonsie batted around and the first four batters of the inning scored.
“I think what happened between yesterday’s game (versus Metea) and early on when we left the bases loaded was a little wake up call for us,” Warriors coach Aly Kelley said. “I think it scared them and got them to kick their butts into gear. We need to execute when we get people on and that’s what we did.”
A leadoff walk and single put two runners on for Amanda Lack who blasted a two-run triple over the center fielder’s head. Amanda Minahan followed with an RBI single to left, bringing in Lack. Two batters later Katie Benson picked up an RBI by hitting a fastball up the middle and Mel Koulos finished out the inning by hitting a two-run home run that hit the top of the fence and bounced over.
“Once we got that spark to start the rally, you could see everyone just explode and get hits,” Lack said. “When we have bad innings or if things didn’t go our way, our heads begin to fall. That didn’t happen. We all just kept positive.”
After leaving the bases loaded in the second, the Warriors got on the board when Erin Homan belted a deep fly ball that was just out of the reach of the left fielder scoring both runners on. The Storm (13-9, 6-5) responded with a run of their own in the next inning when Alyssa Buddle hit a solo home run that just cleared the fence in left-center field.
Down 9-2, South Elgin scored two runs in the top of the seventh to make Waubonsie sweat a bit, but the Warriors hunkered down and ended the game by throwing out the Storm’s Shannon Conway who tried to stretch a single into a double.
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