South Elgin strong 2nd at Slugfest
Sam Bolin admitted to feeling a bit uncomfortable in the pitchers circle Saturday at the 18th Annual Larkin Slugfest.
But she got oh so comfortable in a big hurry. The South Elgin junior didn’t allow an earned run in 14 innings in the circle, leading the Storm to a second-place finish after they dropped a 4-3 decision to Class 3A power Chatham-Glenwood in the championship game at the Elgin Sports Complex.
Prior to that, Bolin fired a masterful 5-hitter in a 1-0 win over Plainfield Central — the only team to beat St. Charles North this season — in the semifinals.
“I came out feeling a little uncomfortable today but I got over it in the first inning and then I was strong all the way through,” said Bolin. “It was a really good day.”
For South Elgin and St. Edward, it was. For Elgin and Burlington Central it turned out to be a learning experience. Elgin went 1-2 on the day, falling 5-4 to Plainfield Central in the third-place game, while BC was also 1-2, beating Oak Lawn 4-1 in the final round.
St. Edward, though, bounced back from a 6-1 loss to Elgin in the opening round to beat Burlington 9-4 and Larkin 5-2 to claim the consolation championship.
“We started out rough defensively today but we came back and had two errorless games and played very well,” said Green Wave coach Jaci Corn, whose team has won 5 of its last 6. “I’m happy with the way we finished today. It was a good day for us.”
South Elgin’s second-place finish was another step in the right direction for the Storm, now 11-6 on the season.
“Overall 2-1 is a good day,” said Storm coach Jason Schaal. “The loss stings a lot but give (Glenwood) credit. We had them down 3-0. They had to put something together and they did.”
But the Storm’s defense helped. A solo cannon shot of a home run from freshman standout Alyssa Buddle in the top of the fourth and an RBI single from Lexi Hansen, as well as a run scoring on an outfield error, staked South Elgin (11-6) to a 3-0 lead, but two infield errors in the bottom of the fifth opened the door for Glenwood (17-1) to score 4 runs. Storm senior Katelyn Stonecipher singled with one out in the top of the fifth, was sacrificed to second by Hansen and took third on a wild pitch but after Buddle walked, Bolin lines out hard to right to end the game.
Bolin allowed just 5 hits and had 4 strikeouts and 1 walk on the heels of her gem against Plainfield Central.
“She’s pitching great,” said Schaal. “Her and Buddle are starting to get on a roll.”
South Elgin opened the day with a 12-2 win over Oak Lawn. in which Stonecipher had 3 hits including 2 doubles, Bolin and Taylor Rees each had 3 hits including a double, Buddle had a triple, and freshman Brittany Koss a double and a home run. Rees was the winning pitcher.
St. Edward’s run to the consolation title was fueled by the strong pitching of senior Sarah Field, the continued strong hitting of senior Tarah McShane and a hot day from sophomore shortstop Kali Kossakowski. Kossakowski had 2 doubles on the day while McShane doubled and hit her fifth home run of the season. Field bounced back from losing to Elgin to pick up both wins while freshman Julie Larson earned a save for the Wave (5-7).
“We made 7 errors against Elgin and then we didn’t make another one the rest of the day,” Corn said. “I was really happy with the way Kali hit today and it was nice to get Julie some innings that we haven’t been able to because of all the rainouts. I was especially happy with the Larkin win because we only got 2 hits but we were able to take advantage of what (Larkin) gave us and we haven’t been doing that.”
Elgin’s road was a tough one after beating St. Edward. Playing without junior ace Hannah Perryman (concussion) as well as two other starters after the first game, the depleted Maroons lost to Glenwood 16-1 in the semifinals and then 5-4 to Plainfield Central in the third-place game. Freshman Jennah Perryman recorded all 3 decisions for the Maroons (13-7).
“We didn’t have many healthy bodies today,” said Elgin coach Chad Dahlman. “We had to bring some JV kids up who don’t have experience at this level.”
Anna Eckholm drove in 2 runs in the Maroons’ win over St. Edward and Jennifer Fulton had 2 hits. Rachel Roth’s double was one of just 2 Elgin hits against Plainfield Central and Monica Stockman’s double was one of only 4 hits against Glenwood.
Larkin’s day started with a 5-0 loss to Plainfield Central, a game in which the Royals gave up 4 unearned runs. Lexi Smithberg took the loss. Megan Johnson was the winning pitcher against Oak Lawn. Corinne Wimmer, who was 9-for-11 on the day, was 4-for-4 in the win while Smithberg had 2 hits and 3 RBI. Sam King added 2 hits and 2 RBI and Alex Buhrow had 2 hits and 4 RBI.
Kiernan Schock suffered the loss against St. Edward.
“I was pleased with our pitching today,” said Larkin coach Larry Hight. “Lexi pitched real well, I was really impressed with Megan Johnson and Kiernan had one bad inning. Wimmer had a career day today for us. We’re still experimenting with our lineup and moving some people around.”
Burlington Central played Glenwood tough before losing 8-6 in the opening round. The Rockets had a 6-3 lead early but couldn’t hang on. Bekah Harnish was 2-for-4 with a home run, Haley Albamonte went 3-for-04 with 2 doubles and Emily Bell and Brooke Gaylord had 2 hits each with a double each. Rebecca Roscher was the losing pitcher.
Harnish, Bell, Roscher and Albamonte each had doubles in the loss to St. Edward.
The Rockets (8-8) came back and salvaged a win by beating Oak Lawn 4-1 in the final round. Roscher (4-2) picked up the win with Audrey Djukic (3-for-3, 2B), Harnish (2-for-3, 2B) and Emily Orals (2-for-4) leading the way offensively.
“We believe in the girls and their talent level but it’s disappointing when we can’t put seven innings together,” said BC coach Cray Allen of the loss to Glenwood. “Right now we’re questioning their desire to win a game. We didn’t take it. We were waiting for something to get handed to us.”