Brown's cool performance lifts Grayslake Central
Talk about brain freeze.
Grayslake Central pitcher Brittany Brown did the math.
Just in case she struck out every hitter for all seven innings, that would equate to seven snow cones.
As it was on a windy and cool afternoon on her home field on Monday night, she settled for the one snow cone.
It's all about striking out the side. That's when the Rams pitcher earns a snow cone from an assistant coach at the high school.
Let's look closely at the Grayslake North sixth inning. Mariah Gentile and North third baseman Jessica Vaughn laced back-to-back singles. A bunt and a throwing error (by Brown) loaded the bases.
"That was my fault,'' Brown said.
And then she stuffed the 1-run rally by fanning three straight Knights, thus earning an icy treat for her hard work.
Grayslake Central (20-10) earned its second straight 10-run win over the rival Knights. Brown helped her own cause with a single, double and walk in the 11-1, six-inning romp.
In fact, it was the bottom of the Rams' lineup that did the most damage. Seventh-place hitter Theresa Curtis singled, doubled and walked. And maybe the best eighth-place hitter in the area, Teagan Truskowski, drove in 3 runs and reached base every time she came to the plate.
Any thoughts of moving the slugger Truskowski up in the lineup?
"We are doing very well,'' said Central coach Jason Schaal. "I don't want to make any changes."
North's losing pitcher, Sarah Littleton, perhaps deserved a better fate.
There were 5 errors committed behind her. However, in the second inning, the bottom of Schaal's lineup used three clean hits to take a 2-0 lead. Truskowski's 2-run single was the key blow.
It stayed 2-0 until the fourth. That's when Brown and leadoff hitter Shelby White laced back-to-back doubles.
"I love leading off,'' White said. "My job is to reach base, and I'm still building strength. I hit the weight room."
White noted her team's trip to the ESPN campus in Florida helped build unity during spring break.
"It was a good opportunity,'' White said. "It really brought us a lot closer together."
This game got out of hand in the home half of the fifth inning. Two North errors, a Jamie Brew RBI single and a double from Curtis led to 5 runs.
"I was hoping we would elevate our play against Grayslake Central,'' said North coach Molly Tomlinson. "The last time we played them it was 11-0. We didn't get our revenge. Grayslake Central scored their runs and we didn't do that."
More good news came from the crowd, as Schaal made an attempt to help further his program.
"We invited the entire Grayslake Pride travel teams,'' Schaal said. "It was a really good crowd. We want to make this annual event."