Lisle defeats ACC in bottom of eighth
Lisle junior pitcher Anna Palicka could have been dejected after allowing a home run in the top of the eighth inning in Thursday's softball season opener.
Instead, she made the most of her chance at bat in the bottom half with the bases loaded and one out.
"I was a little nervous at first, but I knew if I stuck with it, my skills and everything, I had the chance to get it done," Palicka said.
Palicka blasted a 2-2 pitch over the left fielder for a game-ending, 2-run double that gave the Lions an emotional 4-3 victory over visiting Aurora Central Catholic.
Lisle only won five games in 2015 but didn't graduate any players.
"It feels really nice. I'm excited to see what the rest of the season is," Palicka said. "I think it shows what we can do, even if we're not playing 100 percent, what we're capable of."
Lisle never led throughout the game but again tied the score 2-2 in the sixth on a two-out double by leadoff hitter Julia Ullmann.
ACC freshman Danielle Brown escaped the rest of the threat and a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh with a strikeout and flyout. Brown then led off the eighth with a homer to left center that nearly put the Chargers (1-1) ahead to stay.
"I wish I could have pulled through after Danielle's home run, but I got a little too excited at the plate," said senior Paige Miller, who drove in ACC's first two runs with a triple and double in the first and third innings, respectively.
"Honestly I thought we had it, but you can't really look at it like that. We have to play our hearts out and I don't know. We just lost it."
Palicka struck out 15 - the most she could remember in any pitching performance - with 6 hits allowed and 4 walks.
The Lions had 13 hits - three each from Nos. 3-4 hitters Erica Krause and Jennifer Cail - and five doubles. Krause had two doubles and scored twice, and Cail had a run-scoring double in the first. Ullmann, Palicka and Mel Ericson each had 2 hits.
Before the eighth the Lions stranded eight runners in scoring position.
"(I told them) that we simply needed one (run). Let's get two. Let's just get it and end it right then and there," said first-year Lisle coach Trent Schalk, an assistant the past two seasons.
"I'm proud of the way they battled. It's something we've been talking about, just not letting things get you down. Control what we can control and stick with it. They just stuck with it the entire time and it ended up paying off at the end."
Because of injuries and illness, ACC coach Tom Babyar started two junior varsity players and Miller played second base instead of third. While that affected some infield plays, Miller also kept the game tied in the sixth with a diving stop up the middle for an inning-ending force play. Two of ACC's three seniors played.
"It's just one thing after another so we had no real flexibility," Babyar said. "We did a lot of things well, but they found the holes."
ACC had 6 hits with 2 each from Miller and Brown. Val Litrenta, Tressa Cwinski and Jessica Eallonardo, just back from a foot injury, each reached base twice.
Brown (1-1) struck out 12 with three walks (one intentional) after fanning nine in the first three innings of Tuesday's 14-0, five-inning victory over Illinois Math and Science Academy. Brown and Miller combined on a 1-hitter in that victory.
The Lisle eighth began with Ullmann reaching on a dropped third strike. After a sacrifice Krause was intentionally walked and Cail reached on a hard-hit infield grounder.
"It is what it is, but we've got to hit through the lineup," Babyar said.