Joliet West finds proper balance to edge Joliet Catholic

JOLIET – It’s important for good teams to be versatile in their ability to score runs. Joliet West had been scoring a lot of runs via the long ball but was able to win a different style of game against local rival Joliet Catholic.

The Tigers used a pair of sacrifice bunts to score the winning run in a 2-1 victory over the Angels on Monday at Joliet Catholic.

Joliet West standout pitcher Savannah Fierke recognizes the importance of winning when the long ball isn’t there.

“In the postseason, some games are just going to be 1-0,” Fierke said. “I think small ball is almost more important than hitting bombs because it’s a consistent way to get runners on and score.”

In the fourth inning with the game knotted at 1, Avery Houlihan singled to lead off the inning. Grace Cameron laid down a sacrifice bunt ,and Houlihan made an excellent play to get to third. The Angels’ defense threw behind Houlihan at second base, and she took off and made it to third.

The Tigers weren’t done bunting. Jamie Daniels laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Houlihan for what turned out to be the game-winning run.

“We were able to put the ball down. We had a suicide [bunt] executed,” Joliet West coach Heather Suca said. “We were doing the little things. As far as my team goes, this is the least amount of hits we’ve had in a while, but we were still able to score a few runs. I give them credit.”

Joliet West had one last scoring threat in the sixth inning. Fierke led off with a double and Brooke Schwall laid down a bunt single. However, Joliet Catholic pitcher Andie Broniewicz pitched out of the jam. Houlihan bounced into a fielder’s choice, with the runner at third getting thrown out. Broniewicz did the rest of the work with back-to-back strikeouts.

“She had a curve that came outside and it had a lot of movement,” Fierke said of her counterpart. “She got a couple people on the rise ball too.”

Unfortunately for Broniewicz, Fierke was a touch better, striking out 11 Angels. Fierke was able to use her changeup and mix of pitches to keep a tough lineup off balance. She allowed one earned run in the first inning and shut the door after that, scattering only four Angels hits.

“We used the changeup definitely to keep them off balance and struck out a few with it,” Fierke said. “We did the same thing with the rise [ball]. We got them going up level by level.”

Fierke helped herself, driving in West’s first run of the game in the top of the first. The rivals will not see each other in the postseason, so Monday was the time to earn a leg up between two of Joliet’s best.

“It’s bragging rights, especially if you know people,” Fierke said. “It’s always a plus to beat JCA coming from West.”