Dual effort lifts St. Edward
It was matter of two arms being better than one.
Utilizing the combined efforts of freshman Lindsay Zdroik and sophomore Angela Zenteno, St. Edward was able to produce a 5-2 win over Aurora Central Catholic in Suburban Christian Conference action at the Elgin Sports Complex Thursday afternoon.
Zdroik, who was hampered by a sore arm, pitched a solid 4 innings. Earning the win, she struck out 4 without issuing a walk while blanking the Chargers (5-6, 2-4) on 2 hits. Zenteno, working with a 5-0 lead, allowed 2 runs on 6 hits in 3 innings to preserve the win for Zdroik.
“Considering she was pitching with a sore arm, Lindsay pitched great,” said St. Edward coach Jaci Corn. “We have a game against Hampshire (Friday) and three on Saturday (Larkin Slugfest) so the plan was to pitch Lindsay 4 innings. “
The Green Wave used great situational hitting to manufacture a run in the first inning. The catalyst for the Green Wave (8-4, 3-2) was leadoff hitter Kali Kossakowski, who reached on a single, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ashley Gradisher and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryann Scully.
“My job as the leadoff hitter is to get on base and score,” said Kossakowski. “Coach Corn is always stressing that we score early and often.”
St. Edward added a run in the second on an RBI double by Kelly Theriault and scored in the third on an RBI double by Zdroik. The Green Wave’s final 2 runs of the game came in the fourth on a 2-run double by Jasmine DeLeon.
After not being able to score on Zdroik, the Chargers were able to mount a rally against Zenteno. In the fifth, Ally Kane led off with a walk which was followed by a single by Clare Tack. Both Kane and Tack scored on a 2-run single by Andrea Bieritz to make the score 5-2.
With two outs in the sixth, Kane and Tack singled but were stranded when losing pitcher Emma Baxter popped out to Kossakowski at shortstop.
“We have played 11 games in 4 weeks and haven’t faced a lot of live pitching,” said ACC coach Jim Hallahan. “It was a frustrating game swinging the bats.”
DeLeon led the Green Wave with 2 hits and 2 RBI.
Paige Miller and Tack collected 2 hits each for ACC