Montini's 'home run club' overpowers Metea Valley
Sara Ross is having a lot of fun trying to keep up with the power-hitting sophomores playing softball at Montini this season.
"It's like the home run club, I guess," said Ross, a senior. "Alyssa (Sclafani) and Emily (Lezcano) are the leaders right now, but I'm trying to get up there. Can't let the underclassmen beat me."
Ross could only keep pace Saturday in Lombard, matching the youngsters with a home run each. The hot-hitting Broncos pounded out 4 home runs to defeat visiting Metea Valley 13-2 in six innings in a nonconference game.
"We have a lot of talent on our team, and everybody can hit," Ross said.
"It's a nice thing," added Broncos coach Richie Costante. "We hit a lot, and then we cooled off for a little bit, and now we're starting to hit some more again, which is nice. Home runs are fun."
A day after pounding out 19 hits against Rosary, the Broncos (18-5) had 15 hits against Metea Valley, adding 4 doubles to the 4 home runs.
"When everybody can hit, 1 through 9, it's bound to happen, I guess," Ross said.
The Mustangs (5-16) took a brief lead in the third inning. Freshman Sydney Bajusz led off with a double, moved to third base on Fran Senese's sacrifice bunt and scored on Alise Perna's groundout to second base.
Montini answered with a 4-run bottom of the third inning. Sclafani's 3-run home run to right-center field got the Broncos going, and Lezcano followed up with a solo home run to center right behind Sclafani. It was the third homer of the season for Sclafani, ninth for Lezcano, and both came on full counts.
Montini made it 8-1 in the fourth inning, this time without a home run. Back-to-back doubles by Serena Almodovar and Morganne Evans plus a walk to No. 9 hitter Tacia Mesina, hitting over .400, loaded the bases. Cristina Barrett's one-out double to the right-field wall drove in 2 runs. After Sclafani walked Lezcano drove in 2 more runs with a single to left field.
Metea Valley got a run back in the top of the sixth inning. Perna led off with a single to center and scored on Megan Arcivar's single to center, making the score 8-2.
But Montini was just getting warmed up. Sclafani led off with an infield single and scored on Lezcano's double to right-center, Lezcano's fourth RBI of the day. Ross brought Lezcano home with a home run to center field, her second of the season.
Pitcher Amy Bukovsky singled to center field, and Almodovar ended the game with a 2-run home run to center, invoking the 10-run rule.
Bukovsky (4-2), another sophomore, allowed just 4 hits as Montini gave No. 1 pitcher Lauren Trojnar a day off.
"She pitches with a lot of heart, plays with a lot of passion," Ross added. "Sometimes she's a little too hard on herself, but she's a very good player. I'm really proud of her."
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