Naperville North catcher Laurel Anstine didn’t have any grand ideas when she strode to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning on Saturday.
“I wasn’t hoping for anything big,” she said. “All I was hoping for was just a hit through the infield.”
That’s exactly what Anstine got. The junior grounded a walk-off single to left that scored Lily Kelly with the final run of the Huskies’ 10-0 victory against Naperville Central in the Class 4A Naperville North Regional championship game.
Anstine danced over the bag at first as the celebration began for Naperville North’s first regional title since 2012.
“I just went up there and hoped for the best, but when I saw it got through the shortstop’s glove, I was so excited,” she said. “I started jumping over at first because I knew if we got one more run we would have won the game, so it was a really good feeling.”
This has been a season of good feelings for the second-seeded Huskies (26-3), who will play third-seeded Neuqua Valley in the Yorkville Sectional semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“This has been a huge goal for us the whole year,” Anstine said. “At the beginning of the season, we had a list of things that we wanted to accomplish.
“Winning DVC was one of them, and winning regionals was another one. Accomplishing both of them is really exciting.”
Anstine was a big reason why the Huskies knocked off 10th-seeded Naperville Central (14-18) for the fourth time this season. Batting fifth in the lineup, she went 4-for-4 to raise her batting average to .419 and also caught another gem from ace Charlotte Chelich, who hurled a one-hit shutout and struck out 13.
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Kendall Kedziora had two hits and scored twice, and Kristina Donaldson belted a two-run homer for the Huskies, who extended their program record for wins.
“When Laurel is on, that’s going to help our team out,” Naperville North coach Jerry Kedziora said. “If we can get production in the 5-6-7 spots, we’re pretty fortunate. She had a great day.”
And not only with the bat. Chelich, as she often is, was nearly unhittable. But the same speed and movement that flummoxes hitters can also frustrate Anstine.
“Her pitches move so much,” Anstine said. “It’s so hard catching for her because you can see how the ball moves through, especially her screwball, which moves out.
“No one can even touch the screwball.”
That sometimes includes Anstine, who had several pitches go off her mitt. Chelich walked four and uncorked two wild pitches, but she followed each walk by striking out the next batter.
“Laurel battled back there,” Kedziora said. “It’s not easy handling Charlotte. It’s not easy for any catcher.”
Beating Chelich and the Huskies isn’t easy, as the Redhawks well know. They were outscored 28-2 in four matchups this season.
It’s especially difficult if you don’t play good defense, and the Redhawks made five errors Saturday, three of which came in a four-run first inning.
Three runs scored on a single to right by Rhyan Hampton. Anstine capped that rally with a single to center.
“We needed the defensive team we had Thursday,” said Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum, referring to a 6-0 semifinal victory over eighth-seeded Plainfield East. “They put forth the effort. They just didn’t make the plays.”
But the Huskies did, going error-free on the six balls put in play off Chelich.
“It’s a lot of hard work that goes into it,” Jerry Kedziora said. “Our pitching has been outstanding, and we’ve been able to play defense behind Charlotte. It’s great to see all these happy faces.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.