Taucher's on task as Elk Grove tops Fenton

Shannon Taucher plans to play softball next year at the College of DuPage and wants to study secondary education.

The senior first baseman sure gave a lesson in hitting on Thursday.

In four at-bats, she hit the ball on the nose every time and finished 2-for-3 with a home run, double and 4 RBI as the Grenadiers rolled past visiting Fenton 16-0 in five innings.

"Shannon hit the ball on the line in every at-bat," said Elk Grove coach Ken Grams, whose team improved to 3-2. "She's been in a groove."

The whole Grens' lineup seemed to be in a groove with a 12-hit attack that also saw senior Marjorie Sloan (2-for-3), junior Abbey Sloan (2-for-2) and sophomore Kylie Thomsen (2-for-4, 2 doubles, 5 RBI) collect a pair of hits.

Junior third baseman Alex Masnica had 1 hit but it was her first homer of the season and she ended up 1-for-1 in the game with 2 walks and a sacrifice fly to left that drove in Aleece Duffy with the first of her 2 runs scored.

Thomsen's big RBI day was the result of two doubles to left field, one with the base-loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fourth.

Thomsen's other two at-bats were hard shots, too.

"She hadn't been to the plate a lot," said Grams of the sophomore pitcher who was the designated player on Thursday. "So we wanted to make sure she got some at-bats this game."

She made the most of them, just like junior pitcher Anna Bonder made the most of her first varsity start.

Bonder, who was caught by senior Melissa Picchi (1-for-2), threw a 4-hit shutout with 3 strikeouts.

"That was good for Anna," Grams said. "She really had only one inning where they had runners in scoring position."

That was the fourth when the Bison (1-4) loaded the bases with two outs.

Junior Alana Johnson singled to right with two out, followed by junior Courtney Susmarski's base hit to center. Junior Jocelyn Souvannasy was hit by hit by a pitch to lead the bases.

But Bonder escaped her most serious jam with a nice running catcher by right fielder Tayler Merkel in foul territory.

Susmarski ended up 2-for-2 for the Bison.

"Courtney was 0-for-the-season starting the week," said Fenton coach Dave Mello. "Then on Monday she had a triple against Resurrection.

"She followed that with two great days hitting in practice. So it was good to see her get some quality at-bats this game. As with most hitters, confidence is the key. Now she is dialed in. To get her going in the No. 6 spot really helps."

Johnson and freshman Rose Riley had the other hits for Fenton, which was missing a pair of starters due to spring break.

"It's always great to be back here," said Mello, a graduate of Elk Grove High School." "I'm very glad the Elk Grove staff took time to get the field ready. I say this every year but it's great to go up against a legend like Ken Grams (Hall of Famer with 830 wins) and a program that we aspire to be. I would have hated to miss out on this opportunity."

Taucher, who will be joined by Marjorie Sloan at DuPage, did not miss out on her opportunities at that plate Thursday.

Her 2-run blast over the left-center field fence in the bottom of the fourth brought home Abbey Sloan, who had doubled with one out.

Masnica then followed with her homer over the left field fence for the final runs of the game.

"We've been hitting well the last few games," said Taucher, who now has 2 homers this spring. "We just got our bodies behind the ball and hit it. I love playing with my teammates. I play on a different travel team in the summer so it's great playing with these girls in high school."