The hits just keep on coming for coach Randy Hayslett and his West Aurora softball team.
A couple hours after learning the Blackhawks earned the second seed in the upcoming 19-team Class 4A Downers Grove South Sectional, he saw West Aurora rally from an early 2-0 deficit Tuesday to claim a 4-3 win over Bartlett.
It keeps West Aurora (21-7, 13-3) in the driver’s seat in a tight Upstate Eight Valley title chase, holding a one-game lead over crosstown rival Waubonsie Valley, which is 12-4 in conference.
Big hits from Cara Jimenez and Taylor Podschweit, strong pitching from Hannah Beatus and heady baserunning from Corey McCreedy helped carry the Blackhawks.
“Cara was on the ball today,” Hayslett said of his slugging junior third baseman.
She had already hit three rocket shots when she stepped to the plate for the fourth time in the bottom of the seventh inning with runners on first and second and one out in a 3-3 game.
In the first, Bartlett shortstop Danielle Kirby made a nice play on a hard hit grounder to retire Jimenez. In the third, her liner to the fence in the left-center gap went for a two-run double to cap a three-run rally and erase Bartlett’s 2-0 lead, courtesy of Lauren Janczak’s two-run homer off Beatus (14-4) in the top half of the inning.
Podschweit’s double drove in the first run.
In the fifth, Jimenez lined a drive to right-center that would have reached the fence had it not been grabbed by perfectly positioned Bartlett right fielder Sydney Quagliano. It came off a pitch from Kirby, who had relieved Hawks’ starter Amber Pagan in the third.
“Mr. (assistant coach Neal) Ormond said the wind (blowing out to right) kind of died down right before I hit that one,” Jimenez said. “And (assistant coach Dave) Zine said (Kirby) was pitching inside a lot but I got one in the right place, up and over the plate.”
In the seventh, Jimenez hit a soft liner on Kirby’s 1-2 offering that cleared the shortstop’s head for a single to center. It was picked up by a hard-charging Janczak, who fired to the plate.
“That was probably her weakest hit ball of the day,” Hayslett said. “(Jimenez) came out more aggressive, took just one first strike. That’s how we need her to hit because we need her to drive in runs.
“Sometimes we’re down on her when she takes too many pitches. She didn’t look at many today. That was a key.”
McCreedy was wisely being held up by Hayslett after she rounded third, but she took off for home when the ball short-hopped the catcher and bounced away. McCreedy beat the toss to Kirby covering and that was game.
“I was in a little bit of a slump,” Jimenez said. “My confidence is coming back because I’m thinking I have to be more aggressive.”
Beatus scattered nine hits, walked three and struck out 11 for her second complete-game win over the Hawks (16-9-1, 9-7).
“It went better than I thought,” Hayslett said of the playoff seeding. “I thought we were gonna be in contention for something like three through six. There was a real dogfight for two through six. We’ll take it.”
Downers Grove South was seeded first, with Waubonsie Valley third and Downers Grove North fourth. Plainfield East, Naperville Central and Geneva were fifth through seventh.
Twitter: @RickArmstrong28
