Ice. Rest. Anti-inflammatories.
West Aurora’s Mackenzie Fraus nodded knowingly as the possible responses to her ailment were listed by a questioner. Those are just three of the things that she can do.
The junior catcher has been in and out of the lineup at her favorite spot all season.
“I’ve had an arm issue for three years, diagnosed as tendinitis,” Fraus said. “It’s like a recurring injury.”
It’s not fun when the pain presents itself. When the arm is right, however, it’s a blast.
That’s how Fraus was feeling Friday, leading a sparkling defensive effort as the 13th-seeded Blackhawks battled sixth-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South in another postseason upset bid.
The Tigers survived 2-1 in the Class 4A West Aurora Regional championship game at Aurora University’s Spartan Athletic Park, but there were as many sighs of relief as cheers from the winners.
“It was a very stressful game,” Fraus said. “We held them, but offensively, we probably should have gotten more hits.”
Coach Randy Hayslett went with his pitching tandem of senior starter Alyssa Perkins and junior reliever Katelyn Serafin for the second straight game with promising results for West Aurora (8-18).
As she had Tuesday in the Blackhawks’ 7-4 upset of third-seeded Oswego, Perkins navigated three innings on the same number of pitches, finishing with 38.
She trailed 4-0 on Tuesday. This time, she left with a 1-0 lead over the Tigers (17-12).
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“I couldn’t have asked for a better game,” Perkins said. “Sometimes, it comes down to that one run, and there’s nothing you can do about it. It could have gone either way.”
West Aurora’s Sara Tarr, a sophomore shortstop, and Wheaton Warrenville South’s Maddie Pool, a junior pitcher, are summer teammates with the Dennison Silver Hawks. They became rivals on the game’s opening at-bat.
Tarr reached out for a 1-1 curveball and golfed it over the center fielder’s head for a triple. The relay throw scooted away from the third baseman, allowing the sliding Tarr to scramble to her feet and make a headfirst dive to the plate to score.
“We worked on live pitching in the offseason this past winter,” Tarr said. “So I did face (Pool) then, but I’d never faced her in a real game. It was pretty exciting.
“I know she has a good curve and a riseball. I was looking for that low and outside pitch.”
Pool, who gave up just one hit the rest of the way, faced some tense moments thanks to two outfield errors that put Tarr on second with one out in the sixth inning and Perkins on second to lead off the seventh.
Pool was up to the challenge, though, finishing with 11 strikeouts.
“Maddie Pool is a name that everybody should know,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Jeff Pawlak said. “She works as hard as any kid.”
Senior shortstop Katie Jensen, a Lewis recruit, then tied the game with an RBI double in the sixth. She scored the winning run on Parker Leonard’s sacrifice fly.
In between, it was Fraus and West Aurora’s defense putting on a show.
“We were phenomenal on defense,” Tarr said. “Kenzie did such a great job behind the plate.”
Perkins threw out a runner at third in the second on a comebacker. Fraus ended the inning catching a runner trying to steal second.
In the fourth, Pool doubled and moved up on a wild pitch but the next batter whiffed on a squeeze attempt. Fraus fired to third baseman Ionicca Rivera, who then threw back to catch Pool at the plate.
Fraus also doubled up a runner on a foul pop-up in the fifth.
“Mackenzie had a really nice game,” Hayslett said.
A relieved Pawlak had to agree.
“We had runners on early and just didn’t execute,” Pawlak said. “We had to pick each other up — and fortunately did.”
Afterward, Perkins was philosophical.
“Win or lose,” she said, “that’s how I wanted to go out.”