Simple approach working for Burlington C.
Sometimes the simplest approach to hitting is just that — be simple.
It’s an approach that’s working quite well for Burlington Central’s softball team lately.
“Sometimes it’s contagious within a team,” said first-year BC coach Cray Allen, whose team put up 28 runs in two Big Northern East wins last week. “The other thing is that sometimes teams that are going to give up some runs learn they have to score too. Our hitters are more seasoned right now than our pitchers and they’ve realized we have to play solid defense and score runs.”
Central stands at 7-5 for the season and 2-0 in the BN-East and the Rockets are on a 5-game winning streak that has landed them in the No. 20 position in this week’s Daily Herald Top 20.
While Allen has varsity-seasoned players in Haley Albamonte, Emily Bell and Sarah Kisch, the remainder of the team is young and inexperienced, including the pitching staff of junior Kelsey Johnson, sophomore Rebecca Roescher and freshman Brooke Gaylord.
“Our pitchers are working hard every day and they have the potential to be pretty good but they have a long way to go,” Allen said. “Fortunately our hitters have bought into our offensive attitude and understand the approach to the plate we want. We’ve simplified our approach and we’ve talked about hitting in the right count. Our young kids are starting to understand that.”
And plenty of young kids the Rockets do have. There are only three seniors — Molly Harrison, Audrey Djukic and the injured Abby Morrow — on the varsity, while Bell, Albamonte, Kisch, Amanda Ritchie and Emily Orals are the only juniors. Allen is depending on players such as sophomores Lauren King, Roscher, and Melanie Gajewski as well as freshmen Bekah Harnish, Gaylord and Tori Harvey to contribute more and more as the season goes on.
“We’re starting to see a lot of depth 1-9,” Allen said. “If you don’t have depth in your lineup after the 4-5 spots it’s going to be hard to advance in the state tournament. We’ve started molding the 6, 7, 8 and 9 hitters and now we’re becoming a more competitive team. The young kids have really played well and we’re putting the ball in play a lot.”
And Allen, who has tasted the downstate experience during his years at Lake Park, is enjoying teaching the game to the youngsters around Rocket Hill.
“I’m pretty happy right now,” he said. “We have a long ways to go and we have to keep the pedal to the metal offensively, but I’m happy right now.”
Wave back on track: After losing its first six games of the season, St. Edward bounced back with wins over Rosary and Chicago Christian last week in Suburban Christian Blue play. And one of the main reasons the Green Wave have been competitive this season and have now posted a couple wins for first-year coach Jaci Corn is the contributions on and off the field from senior Tarah McShane. The Valparaiso-bound catcher is hitting .636 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI, including a walk off grand slam to beat Rosary. She has a 1.318 slugging percentage and a .704 on-base percentage.
“We started out kind of rough but we’re finally starting to put all the pieces together and Tarah has played a big part in being the backbone to that,” Corn said. “Her senior leadership off the field has played a big role as well as her leadership on the field. She’s done exceptionally well leading by example.”
Due to injuries to senior third baseman Kelsey Richmond and junior first baseman/outfielder Maddie Kerr, Corn has had to throw some inexperienced players into the fire, such as varsity-untested players like senior Ana Peterson, junior Anna Dominguez and sophomores Ashley Gradisher and Kristi Kroll. Richmond returned to the lineup last week from a knee injury.
“Having Kelsey back really helps solidify our infield,” Corn said.
St. Edward has also gotten good offensive production from senior pitcher Sarah Field (. 348, 1 HR, 6 RBI) and sophomore shortstop Kali Kossakowski (. 346).
Larkin Slugfest: The annual Larkin Slugfest is scheduled for Saturday at the Elgin Sports Complex and it’s become an ultra-local tournament. The 10 a.m. first-round games have Plainfield Central, the 2009 champion, playing Larkin, South Elgin taking on Oak Lawn, Elgin battling St. Edward, and Chatham-Glenwood facing Burlington Central. Second-round games will be played at noon and the final round at 2 p.m. Last year’s tournament was rained out after one round.
Senior All-Star game: The Eighth Annual Dave Fehlman Memorial Senior All-Star game will be played Monday, June 13 at Judson University in Elgin. The game is named in memory of Dave Fehlman, a longtime and avid supporter of high school and travel softball in the Fox Valley area and a past president of the Fox Valley Renegades who passed away in 2007. Fehlman’s daughter, Lissa, is a St. Edward graduate and former captain of the Daily Herald All-Area team. The coaches for this year’s game will be Cray Allen of Burlington Central and Jaci Corn of St. Edward. The game is sponsored by the Northern Illinois Lightning, Fox Valley Sports Academy, Judson University and the Daily Herald. For more information or for sponsorship opportunities, call (847) 812-1522 or e-mail northernillinoislightning@gmail.com.
College report: The Elgin Community College softball team went 3-2 at the Highland tournament over the weekend. Rae Bosteder (South Elgin, 8-for-16, HR, 6 RBI), BreAunna Medinger (St. Edward, 7-for-16, 2B, RBI) and Ashley Scheffler (Burlington Central, 10-for-18, RBI) led the Spartans’ offense.