Softball: St. Francis wins slugfest over St. Edward

St. Francis coach Ralph Remus called this year's Spartans the best hitting team he's coached, and those bats were in midseason form Friday against St. Edward in a nonconference matchup at the Elgin Sports Complex.

Shelby Winkelman blasted a pair of home runs, 2 of the Spartans 4 on the day to go with 7 extra-base hits and 17 total hits in a 9-7 win.

St. Francis (13-1) really flexed its muscle in a 7-run fifth inning when Winkelman, Carlee Jo Clark and Caroline Caesar drilled back-to-back-to-back homers.

"I hit them right in the sweet spot," Winkelman said. "It felt good to keep feeding off the energy my team had with hitting."

The fifth inning started with the game tied at 2. The Spartans put together 10 straight hits during their rally, then St. Edward answered with 5 runs in its half to pull within 9-7.

Those 10 straight hits began with a triple from leadoff hitter Rebecca Imbrogno and ended with a double by Imbrogno. In between came a single by Fiona Summers, the three straight home runs, and then four consecutive singles from Bailey Zydek, Kellyn Langton, Josie Smith and Emma Johnson.

"It was like piranhas in a feeding frenzy," Remus said. "I've never seen anything like it. I don't think I've ever had back-to-back homers let alone three. I'd like to say I see it all the time but I don't."

Winkleman's first home run came after the Green Wave dropped a pop-up in the first for a 2-0 lead.

St. Edward (10-4) tied the game with single runs in the third and fourth aided in part by a Spartans defense that committed 5 errors on the day.

"Defensively we have a lot of shortcomings," said Remus, whose team graduated 7 senior starters. "I knew it was going to be an interesting year but they are keeping it really interesting."

Allison Stratman and Jessy Kramp, who took the loss, both doubled in St. Edward's 5-run fifth, a rally that included 2 more St. Francis errors. Rachel Lesh capped it with her first home run of the year over the left-field fence.

Clark earned the win for St. Francis, pitching the first 5 innings before Winkelman pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh for her second save. Seven St. Francis hitters had at least 2 hits led by Winkelman's 3-for-4 day.

Lesh, Emily Stapay, Stratman and Lindsay Zdroik all had 2 hits for the Green Wave who are in a busy stretch with 3 games Saturday and 8 more scheduled next week.

"I told her (Kramp) she would have to go the distance even if she got hit," St. Edward coach Paul Netzel said. "She threw strikes, she did a good job, she just had the one bad inning. She's a freshman and she's doing a good job.

"The girls are pretty talented. I'm not happy with the result but I'm happy with the way we are progressing."