The wind was blowing out, the ball was rocketing off the bats of both teams, and Waubonsie Valley pitcher Ellie Laub was the happy beneficiary.
“Throughout the season, our hitting has been off and on,” Laub said. “Today it was very much on.”
The Warriors launched 15 hits off two Yorkville pitchers Wednesday and held on for a 10-8 nonconference win.
Laub, a senior right-hander, scattered nine hits and threw a complete game to earn the win in the slugfest.
Lauren Koster, who pitched the first three innings, took the loss. Taylor Warren worked the final three innings for the Foxes, who did not use sophomore ace Madi Reeves.
This week, Yorkville (16-3) was voted the top seed in the upcoming 16-team sectional that feeds into the Class 4A Normal Supersectional. Waubonsie (7-14) got the 12th seed.
Ellie Laub helped her own cause, hitting one of three home runs for the Warriors. Her younger sister Hannah, a freshman center fielder, followed with a two-run homer in the first inning, two batters after Ellie’s solo shot.
Hannah’s homer scored Megan Kennedy, who had reached on a single.
The homers highlighted a four-run rally by Waubonsie that answered three runs scored by Yorkville in the top of the first, which were aided by a pair of errors.
The next inning, Kennedy delivered a two-run homer to give the Warriors a 6-3 lead.
“We had a really good warm-up,” Waubonsie coach Val Wood said.
Her team lost 7-0 the previous day to DuPage Valley Conference rival Neuqua Valley, the second seed in the sectional.
“I just told them they have the ability to do it, they have the potential to do it,” Wood said. “It’s a new day. We just need to come out and start swinging the bats, and they did.”
Kennedy and Hannah Laub have four homers apiece this season. Ellie Laub has two. The Laub sisters are playing on the same team for the first time.
“We get along well and work well together,” Hannah said. “It’s been a really fun time.”
Ellie Laub credits her little sister.
“She really pushes me to get better,” Ellie said. “And now, she’s taller than me and a little bigger than me. She pushes me to hit it farther and throw it harder. We always compete.”
The 5-foot-10 Hannah has an edge on the 5-8 Ellie.
“They’ll have little spats now and then, but they hug it out and they’re fine,” Wood said. “I love having them on the team.”
Pitching against Yorkville was a challenge, according to Ellie Laub.
“I was trying to get the ball to go to our players because I knew they were going to hit it,” she said. “I wanted to let my fielders make plays.”
Despite the early miscues, the Warriors did.
“I felt like we played the best defense we’ve played all year,” Wood said.
Waubonsie cut down three runners for outs on the bases.
Catcher Mackenzie Ondrejcak caught a runner stealing at second. Ellie Laub cut off a throw from sister Hannah and fired to shortstop Anna Riggs to catch a hitter trying to stretch a single into a double. And left fielder Avery Hickey, who had two nice running catches, threw out another runner at the plate.
“My catcher has been working on her throws,” Wood said. “We’ve been working on the mental aspects of the game.”
Gia Cobert, Ellie Laub, Kennedy, Hannah Laub and Riggs — the first five batters in the order — all had two hits. Cobert and Ellie Laub each drove in three runs.
“I think we do much better hitting-wise when we don’t go deep in counts,” Ellie said.
Kayla Tranter and Ellie Alvarez each drove in three runs for the Foxes, including a two-run triple and two-run double, respectively.
“Both teams hit it hard,” Yorkville coach Jory Regnier said. “More of their hits landed than ours did.”
