Powerful displays from Warren, Carmel

Before Sarah Koesser's 2-homer inning and her Carmel Catholic teammate Amanda Elert's state record-tying grand slam in the second of three softball games at Warren, the host school's Sabrina Trevino drove a ball over the fence too.

Trevino's home run might have been the biggest one of the day Saturday, as it helped propel Warren to a 10-6 win over Carmel in the opening game. Carmel rebounded to pound Glenbrook South 13-0, as Koesser and Elert combined for three homers in a 12-run first inning.

Warren's win over Carmel hiked the Blue Devils' record to 9-1, while dropping Carmel to 10-2. Not that either team necessarily considered the game a showdown between two of the top teams in Lake County, even if it was just that.

"We always want to come out and win, and we're going to do our best every time," Warren coach Jenna Anderson said. "We want to get up for every game. Every game is a showdown."

Trailing Carmel 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Warren loaded the bases with none out. But Corsairs righty Claire Petrus got San Diego-bound Shannon McKeon to bounce into a 1-2-3 double play. Then with Trevino trying to pick up her teammate, a wild pitch plated the tying run. Trevino then inflicted more damage, driving a high flyball the opposite way and over the fence in right field for a 3-1 lead.

"I never try to hit home runs," Trevino said. "It's just hard contact. My dad always stresses, 'Hard contact, hard contact.' So that's what I try to do."

The homer was the fourth for Trevino, who hit seven last season for the Class 4A state champs.

"I'm aiming for double digits," Trevino said.

Warren's junior third baseman wasn't feeling as well in the fifth inning after being inadvertently cleated in the left elbow by a sliding Dani DeLozier.

"She apologized," said Trevino, who stayed in the game. "It's no sour feelings against anyone over there."

Carmel had extended its lead to 8-1 by scoring 5 runs in the fourth. Emily Hudgins' 2-run triple was the big blow. Hudgins, a sophomore and Penn State commit, scored on Julienne Egofske's single. Rachele Belletini led the Blue Devils' 11-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Hudgins and McKeon were both 2-fo-4, while Egofske was 2-for-3.

Petrus doubled twice for Carmel, while Jenny Behan had a double, single and 2 RBI.

"It was disappointing the way we came out today," Corsairs coach Jason Raymond said. "I felt like it took a while for our bats to heat up. We obviously didn't make the necessary plays in the field, and we made a lot of mental mistakes on pitch calls."

Carmel is off to one of its best starts in recent years, but the Corsairs' bats have been carrying them too often. Their 7-run deficit after 4 innings against Warren proved to be too much, even though they had the tying run at the plate with none out in the seventh. Egofske, a junior lefty, retired the next three hitters.

"We don't think we're playing as good as we need to play," Raymond said. "We've hit the ball well, and we're going to hit the ball well all year. But at this time of the season, we make too many mental mistakes and too many mistakes in the field."

Carmel jumped up Glenbrook South immediately. Koesser, batting in the fifth spot, hit a 2-run homer to center field to make it 4-0. When Koesser came to the plate a second time in the inning, Elert had just belted her fourth career grand slam and second this season. Koesser followed with a long drive that easily cleared the fence in left for her third homer of the season.

"The game before I struggled a little bit," said Koesser, who went 0-for-3 against Warren. "Going into this game, I knew I had to make up for it. I was a lot more focused. I guess you could say I was in a bad mood and I was ready to hit the ball."

According to the IHSA website, the state record for career grand slams is four (seven players).

"I had no idea," Elert, who missed her sophomore season (1 postseason at-bat only, actually) while recovering from ACL surgery. "I just think you know that when there are runners on base, your first priority is to get them in. I just try to lock in. Sometimes I think it's luck."

Anne Poll was 3-for-3 with an RBI for Carmel. Besides Koesser, Petrus had 2 hits for the Corsairs, who played errorless ball and gave up only 2 hits.

"We just need to start hitting a lot more and making plays at the beginning of the game," Koesser said. "I think we feel like we need to get our act together (earlier in games) and start playing."

Warren's Blue Devils won't let their hot start get to their heads.

"We can't get cocky," Trevino said. "We just got to make sure we play our game and do what we do best."