Having fun yet?
For Waubonsie Valley’s Alyssa Tukker, the answer is an emphatic yes.
With all due respect to Alicia Keys, this girl is on fire and having a blast. The junior center fielder, a right-handed leadoff hitter, is in her third season on the varsity. And getting better and better.
“I feel more confident this year,” Tukker said. “Some of that definitely comes from just hitting. You get more confidence when you’re going well and then you keep hitting.
“But the other part is I’m more relaxed this year. I really like this team, I feel good with these girls and I’m just enjoying it. That helps me feel relaxed in the box. When I’m more relaxed, I hit better.”
Tukker was the better hitter again Thursday afternoon, coming up with three hits to spark the visiting Warriors to a 14-0 DuPage Valley Conference win at district rival Meta Valley in Aurora.
In lifting her team-best batting average to .466, Tukker doubled, walked, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs for Waubonsie (10-7, 4-3). Winning pitcher Marissa Leaf didn’t need much more.
The sophomore right-hander ended up striking out eight and throwing a one-hitter with only one walk in the five-inning game for the Warriors, who used a 12-hit attack bolstered by nine walks.
Leaf (2-2) shut down Metea (4-13, 0-8) with the exception of a bunt single in the third inning by senior right fielder Mackenzie Olson, a Carthage commit.
A Metea batter who drew a two-out walk in the fifth was promptly caught stealing by sophomore catcher Samantha Hughes to end the game.
“She’s new to the varsity after pitching JV last season,” Waubonsie coach Valerie Wood said of Leaf. “She worked through the offseason and winter with her travel team.
“We need to start giving her chances.”
Earlier in the week, Leaf was the winning pitcher in an 11-1 victory over Wheaton North.
Tukker’s performance, meanwhile, capped a marvelous four-game week. The Warriors also beat Naperville North 13-5 and dropped a 6-5 decision at conference-leading Naperville Central.
“She’s been hitting the crap out of the ball,” Wood said of Tukker, who batted only .205 as a freshman before improving to .287 last season. “She’s a completely different kid from last year.
“I think she has a different mindset. It’s like she’s thinking, ‘I’m gonna have fun and whatever happens, happens.’ She’s one of those players who doesn’t seem to let anything get to her.”
At Naperville Central, Tukker highlighted a three-hit game with the first two homers of her career.
“I had never hit a home run out of the park in my life until then,” said Tukker, who has matched last year’s total of 27 hits. “And before that, I had a triple in one game and two doubles in another.
“This week has been special for me somehow.”
Indeed, Tukker finished the week hitting .733 (11-for-15).
Surprised?
“A little bit,” she said. “I’m just having fun.”
Tukker has three older brothers and like them started playing T-ball and graduated to rec league softball before moving on to travel with the Wheatland Spikes, mainly to stay with her friends.
She credited her parents, Chris and Beth, for encouragement and coaching over the years.
“I love my parents,” she said. “We were looking at stats yesterday and my mom just kept going, ‘But are you having fun?’ That’s the kind of softball mom she is.”
Alyssa doesn’t think she will play in college, though.
“I’m not really reaching out to anyone,” she said. “I guess if someone came out of nowhere and said, ‘We want you to play for us,’ I’d probably think about it. But I think I’m done after high school.
“I got a lot out of it, but I think I’ll be ready to move on after high school. I’m also in the color guard in marching band. I love it and may try it in college.”
