Softball: Joliet West overcomes 4-run deficit in 7th inning to beat Plainfield North

PLAINFIELD – The Plainfield North and Joliet West softball teams brought plenty of offense Monday.

Aside from the second and sixth innings, both teams scored at least one run every inning until the final one.

That’s when Joliet West pulled off a comeback few saw coming.

Down four, West scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull ahead by one and it kept Plainfield North off the board in the bottom of the inning to complete the 10-9 comeback victory on a wild day.

The game had six lead changes and four ties as Joliet West (11-6) got solid games from Brooke Schwall (3 for 3, 4 RBIs, 2 HR), Ella Featherston (3 for 4) and Caitlynn Baranak (2 for 4, 3 RBIs, HR).

“We’ve been scoring runs almost every inning the past couple games,” West coach Heather Suca said. “We’ve had a lot of back-and-forth games like this and our offense stayed with it and made the plays they needed to.”

The game was exciting from the beginning with Schwall slamming a solo home run with two outs in the top of the first.

Plainfield North responded with a two-out RBI double by Kaleigh Milet to score Brooklynn Griffith in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Plainfield North took the lead when Milet scored on an error.

After a scoreless second, Schwall was at it again with an RBI single to score Avery Houlihan and tie the game with two outs. Milet returned the lead to Plainfield North in the bottom of the third with a solo homer with two outs. The top of the fourth saw West tie it at 3 with a lead-off homer from Baranak.

Plainfield North reclaimed the edge after Sophia Feminis scored on the sacrifice fly by Brooke Brzeczek, and Jessica Knight scored on an error in the same at-bat. In the top of the fifth, Schwall came up huge once more with a two-run homer to make it 5-all.

That was when Plainfield North had its biggest inning of the game starting with an RBI single by Feminis to score Milet and Addie Conrad. Griffith then doubled to score Feminis and Knight and made it 9-5 North.

West wouldn’t go away, however. The Tigers loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a walk to set up Featherston’s RBI single to score Houlihan. The next at bat, Baranak scored Shelby Fraser and Schwall on an RBI double to pull West within one with runners at second and third with no outs. Pitcher Abigail Laube was then pulled in exchange for Reagan Novak as North looked to halt West’s momentum.

Joliet West wouldn’t be denied as Hope Hughes’ sacrifice bunt scored Featherston to tie the game at 9 before Baranak scored on an error the next at bat to put West in the lead 10-9. Plainfield North got the last two outs it needed, but found itself trailing.

After back-to-back strikeouts, Knight singled to reach first, and Brzeczek was walked to put two on with Griffith up to bat. She popped out to the catcher to end the game.

“We’ve all been playing together pretty much since we were freshmen,” Schwall said. “We just go out there and have fun, which just correlates to how we do in the game.”

Plainfield North (6-12) still had plenty of positives to take away after battling a quality team. Griffith (3 for 4, two RBIs) and Milet (3 for 4, three runs, two RBIs, HR) were the offensive standouts, as the team had 11 hits.

“Our girls never gave up,” Plainfield North coach Julie Czernewski said. “Through all seven innings we found ways to put runs on the board. Give credit to West, they’re a very solid team with a lot of seniors who have been on the team for a long time together.”