Carley Frauenhoff was clutch Tuesday. And that was just what West Aurora needed to kick off what the Blackhawks hope is an extended playoff run.
The senior catcher lined a two-out RBI single to center field in the first inning and hit a curling line drive down the right-field line in the third that glanced off the diving right fielder’s glove, resulting in a two-run triple.
Those plays keyed the Blackhawks’ 6-0 win over Naperville Central in a Class 4A Batavia Regional semifinal.
Meanwhile, Hannah Beatus (14-3) and Payton Lundberg combined on a two-hit shutout, combining for 11 strikeouts.
West Aurora (27-3) advances to the 11 a.m. Saturday championship game against the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal between Bolingbrook and Batavia.
“It will work,” Frauenhoff said of her triple, which may have only carried 140 feet from home plate. “I was running and I was like, ‘This is too far.'”
Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum was angry with himself afterward.
“We shouldn’t have pitched to her,” he said. “My fault. We were not prepared adequately. (After the triple), the Nos. 5 and 6 hitters make outs, so we could have been out of the inning down 2-0 instead of 4-0.
“Of course, we made an error or two to get in the spot we were in to begin with.”
West Aurora coach Randy Hayslett knew he couldn’t have scripted it any better.
“That was a big one,” he said of Frauenhoff’s triple. “But she picked us up in the first inning, too, after we got thrown out at home.”
That came on a delayed double steal that Redhawks shortstop Lindsay Gonzalez spoiled with a perfect throw home to nail West courtesy runner Melissa Fidler trying to score.
“We needed that run in the first inning,” Frauenhoff said. “They were going to be coming up swinging trying to get a run and get the lead.”
The underdog Redhawks (11-23), Frauenhoff understood, had nothing to lose.
“Shouldn’t have pitched to Frauenhoff there, either,” Nussbaum said with grumble.
Beatus, a junior, struck out five, walked two and gave up two singles before being lifted by Hayslett after five innings for Lundberg.
“Hannah was on it,” Frauenhoff said. “Maybe not striking them out every time, but she got the outs with no runs. Can’t have a perfect game all the time. It got the job done.”
So did Lundberg, despite a walk on the wild side.
Lundberg, a freshman who hasn’t been scored on in 47-plus varsity innings, got all six outs on strikeouts. In the seventh, though, they were sandwiched around two walks and a hit batter.
“I wanted to get her in there to get some experience (in the postseason),” Hayslett said.
Frauenhoff added a single in the fifth, capping a perfect 3-for-3 effort. She also scored an insurance run. Cara Jimenez added a pair of singles in West’s nine-hit attack against Redhawk freshman Halle Arends (5-14), who gave up just two earned runs thanks to four errors.
“They’re a really good team,” Nussbaum said of West Aurora. “We felt like we were gonna have to play perfectly defensively, get hits at the right time and catch a couple lucky breaks.”
Twitter @RickArmstrong28
