Westchester Girls' Softball, Inc.

Home Run Totals (Over the fence): Majors - Neena Franklin - 2; Sofia Reda - 4; Cassie Serrano - 2; Georgia Becker - 1; Allie Grengs - 2; Calli Hilgenberg - 1; Rachel Adams - 1; Karyme Garcia - 1 Minors - Marisa Sena - 1;

Reuters: Westchester, Illinois – Saturday, June 24, 2017.  In what had to be the season’s most stunning upset, the Vipers snapped the unbeaten streak of the Black Widows and took them down in eight innings, 14-10.  I don’t know if it was because the Widows were tired from playing a previous match up or it was the loss of Enza Martino for most of the game or it was simply the fact the girls in green played the game of their lives.  Maybe it was a combination of all three, but the fact remains the Widows are unbeaten no more.  In this observer’s humble opinion, this game was softball at its very best with both teams scrapping throughout putting on offensive and defensive exhibitions that were worthy of champions.  I cannot recall a contest that was better to watch than this one – exciting, pressure packed, full of great plays and fun.

For the first four innings, the Vipers owned the game, starting from the opening gun with three runs, capitalizing on a couple of walks and a pair of doubles from Lexi Urban (3-4, two doubles, three RBI’s) and Monserrat Cepeda (3-5, double, three RBI’s).  The Widows, who normally scoff at such nonsense and come back strong, were only able to buy back one.  After a quiet second, the teams traded a run each in the third with Bree Chrzanowski (3-4, two doubles, RBI) and Delaney Grammas (2-4, two doubles, two RBI’s) accounting for the run from the Green and Lily Komperda (3-5) along with Ellie Dinkel (3-3, double, three RBI’s) doing the handiwork for the Widows.  Things got real interesting in the top of the fourth as the hit sticks came out big time for the Vipers with crew putting on a Fourth of July exhibition a bit early with fireworks put into the outfield again and again.  Josie Becker (2-5, RBI) started the parade as Ella Robia (2-5, RBI) Diana Pantoja (3-5, two RBI’s), Samy Serrano (1-5, RBI) lit the fuses, all to be followed with the deep core of the team in the persons of Cepeda, Chrzanowski, Urban and Grammas adding the big hits, including three straight doubles.  Now up 10-4, the Vipers were congratulating themselves on a job well done, but the Black Widows are never ones to sit back on their heels and mope and hubris has a way of coming back to bite you in the butt.  Like termites gnawing on a wooden fence post, the girls in black kept chipping away at the score and at the same time stifling any further offensive effort from the Vipers.  They returned with two in the bottom of the inning, another two in the fifth and after a real push in the sixth, evened the game as Komperda and Dinkel teamed up with Courtney Cairo (2-4, four RBI’s), Nadia Torres (2-4, double) and Nathalie Serrano (2-4) to put the muscle in the bats and make it a brand new ball game.  The opposing squads then sat out the seventh, neither team able put anything across and the game was sent into extra innings.  In the top of the eighth, fortune smiled on the Vipers as they began with the strong part of their lineup, and they did their jobs as Urban led off with a single to be followed by successive singles from Cepeda, Megan Cline (3-5) and Ella Robia (2-5, RBI) with a walk and a fielder’s choice mixed in.  Four runs crossed the plate before the Widows could bring activities to a halt.  The bottom frame was now do or die and four runs in a pressure packed atmosphere can be daunting to say the least.  The fans were quiet as Bryssel Loera grounded out on the first pitch but hope revived when Komperda singled a moment later.  That hope was dashed as a fielder’s choice eliminated Komperda shortly thereafter for the second out.  Salvation was then left in the hands of Daisy Laslie who came up with two outs and the weight of the entire team on her shoulders.  You could see the pressure on her face as she repeatedly took deep breaths to calm herself down. On a one and one count, Laslie connected with the ball sharply but it was hit right to Grammas on second base who picked the ball out of the dirt and stepped on second for the force and the final out to end the game.  The Vipers had done it.  They accomplished what no other team has even come close to this season – they had slain the beast.  The Black Widows and all of them had played exceptional ball as is their custom, but the Vipers went them just a bit better this time around.  A great game and great play from all concerned.  Special mention goes to Bree Chrzanowski and Nadia Torres, mound commanders for the respective combatants, who both tossed good games, keeping walks to a minimum with an often tricky swirling breeze.  They also added their bats to their team’s offensive efforts and were solid in defense.  A final nod goes to Diana Pantoja who amazingly is only in her second year of organized ball.  Despite being a relative newbie to the game, she patrolled left field like it was her own back yard, making several good catches and once robbing Nadia Torres of a sure extra base hit by nabbing a screaming line drive on the run down the line.  Nice job.  I wish all games could be as exciting as this one was.

In other action, the Blazers beat the Queen Beezzzzz earlier in the day by a score of 12-9.  The Beezzzzz were on top of this one as a combination of great hitting by Olivia Milon, Reilly Cantwell and Morgan Cantwell along with the team’s supporting cast put them up 6-3 after five and in position to take it all.  It was one of those innings from Hell that did them in however as the Blazers exploded with nine runs in the bottom of the sixth to retake the lead.  The Beezzzzz came back with another three in the top of the seventh on a base clearing double by Milon, but the effort was snuffed out before they could catch the bus.  Marissa Sena and Alexa Flynn led the girls in Orange.

In the second game of a double header, the Blazers were not so lucky and succumbed to a powerful squad of Black Widows, 18-8 in six.  The Blazers actually stayed with the girls in black most of the game thanks to an opening inning burst of six runs and the Widows only held a two-run advantage through five with the score at 10-8.  Unfortunately for the Orange, their offense fizzled for three straight frames and they suffered their own inning from Hell in the sixth as the Widows jumped on them for eight runs and shut them down in the bottom half to end the game.  Aiyanna Hannah (3-4), Alexa Flynn (2-3, RBI) and Mia Chlada (2-3, triple, three RBI’s) provided the bats for the Blazers while Daisy Laslie (2-2, RBI), Ellie Dinkel (2-4, RBI) and Enza Martino (3-3, double four RBI’s) represented the main squeeze for the Widows.

And That’s The Way It Is

Rick Ryan – The News In Sports