Hampshire sweeps Round Lake

Strong pitching. Check

Solid hitting. Check

Flawless fielding. Check

Host Hampshire was dominant in sweeping a nonconference softball doubleheader from Round Lake 11-0 in five innings and 13-3 in six innings Saturday.

"I liked the way we responded from the loss against Belvidere North,"said Hampshire coach Stacey Stepek. "We hit the ball well and hit with power. The pitching was good and we played very good defense."

Hampshire (2-1), which didn't commit an error, scored 24 runs on 21 hits in 11 innings. The Whip-Purs collected 10 extra base hits with 3 homers, 6 doubles and a triple.

Sophomore Peyton DeChant, who has verbally committed to Loyola of Chicago, slammed a 2-run homer in the first game and collected a 2-RBI double in the nightcap.

Aly Snyder ripped 4 doubles for the day, 2 in each game. She also drove in 2 runs.

Melissa Esparza also joined the Whip-Purs' power surge with a solo homer and a 2-RBI triple in the first game.

Haley Widmayer, the winning pitcher in Game 1, stroked 4 hits, 2 in each game and

Ellie Lapi blasted a 3-run homer in Game 2 and collected 4 RBI for the day.

Widmayer was masterful in twirling a 1-hit shutout in Game 1. In 5 innings of work, Widmayer struck out 7 with 4 walks. The lone Round Lake hit came from Mike Crisantos, who singled in the second inning.

"I was really hitting my spots all day," said Widmayer. "I was able to throw strikes with all my pitches and my defense behind me was great."

The Hampshire offense provided Widmayer with all the runs she needed in the first inning.

Snyder got Hampshire on the scoreboard with an RBI double, followed by a 2-run homer by DeChant and an RBI double from Renee Malecke. The Whip-Purs led 4-0 after one inning.

In Game 2, Jasmine Lopez gave up 3 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings to pick up the win.

Round Lake (0-3) scored the initial run of the game in the first inning on an RBI single by Katie Bleim.

The Whip-Purs responded with 6 in the bottom of the inning keyed by a 2-RBI double from DeChant.

"We had a better attitude in the second game," said Round Lake coach Patrick DeDina. "We swung the bats better. Hampshire is a good team. We learned a lot about our team today."