Hoffman Estates shuts out Elgin

Hoffman Estates' pitching by committee is a success, so far. Three Hawk hurlers held Elgin hitless and the offense provided plenty of support in an 11-0 season-opening victory at Elgin.

Brynn Connelly, Megan Amato and Giselle Velazquez combined on a no-hitter, while Mary Bean and Jordyn Fera homered for the Hawks.

Bean finished a double short of the cycle, and Fera missed it by a triple. Alexis Morris had 3 hits and 2 RBI, and Connelly and Velazquez scored 3 times each.

"We talk about winning every inning, at the end of every inning putting runs on the board, and I think that maybe minus 1 or 2 (innings) we did that," said Hoffman coach Lindsey Hamma. "I'm proud of them for that. And we took advantage of mistakes, and you've got to do that."

The combined no-hitter wasn't necessarily a thing of beauty: the trio combined for 6 walks and the defense committed a handful of errors.

"We're going to have to pitch as a committee," Hamma said. "This is the first time, other than a few days of practice, that they've consistently stood in against live batters. I think we learned a lot and improved, and they just need to keep gaining confidence with each new opportunity."

But the Maroons weren't able to take advantage of Hoffman's mistakes. They loaded the bases in the second, but starter Connelly got the third out. Elgin put runners on second and third with no outs in the third, but an out at the plate and a caught-stealing allowed Connelly to escape again. Elgin again got 2 runners on in the fourth, but a baserunning mistake got the Hawks out of the inning once again. Elgin had a runner on with 1 out in the fifth, but Velazquez, playing shortstop, started a nifty 6-3 double play to end the inning.

There were some bright spots for Elgin, which trailed just 5-0 after 5 innings. Rachel Turner reached base 3 times and Ayanna Herrera was on twice for the Maroons.

"I saw a lot of positives," said Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales. "We've got a lot of kids playing new positions, and a lot of them handled it fine. We could have used a timely hit early in the game to keep us in the game, and a timely putout late would have helped."

Hoffman played small-ball to take the early lead. Velazquez led off with a single, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on Connelly's infield grounder. The next batter, Fera, then drove one over the left-field wall. Bean added a 3-run shot in the Hawks' 4-run sixth.