Softball: Carmel making another powerful postseason argument

Always a magical number when it comes to homers in a season, 60 is within reach again for Carmel Catholic's softball team.

And while it might be a slap in the face to the Corsairs, slap hitters excluded, to suggest they don't boast power hitters, this year's plethora of home runs wasn't by design.

With Jen Giesey hitting a 2-run shot, her fifth of the season, in Carmel's 13-0, state tournament-opening win over visiting Regina Dominican on Tuesday, the Corsairs have 58 home runs. Ace Claire Petrus pitched a five-inning complete game, striking out nine and allowing just 1 hit.

Led by Jenny Behan, who parked 17 before heading to James Madison University, Carmel hit a school-record 60 homers (third-highest total in IHSA history) last season.

"We wanted to get away from that actually this year," Corsairs coach Shane Schueneman said of the reliance on homers. "We wanted to drive the ball the other way. We didn't think we'd hit that many (58 and counting). But (the girls) put a lot of time in the off-season in the weight room, and they've kept it going some throughout the season."

Carmel (22-11), the fourth seed in the Class 3A Wauconda sectional complex, will play in its own regional final at 11 a.m. Saturday against the winner of Wednesday's semifinal between No. 5 Ridgewood and No. 12 Lake View.

A year ago, Carmel was the top seed in the sectional but lost to Wauconda 10-0 in the sectional final as Kayla Wedl shut down the Corsairs' potent lineup.

"Last year, we pulled a lot," said Giesey, a junior shortstop and Winona State commit. "That was hard when it came to faster pitching. They were going outside (to stay away from our power)."

Giesey isn't among the Corsairs' homer leaders, and as the leadoff hitter, her job isn't to swing for the fences. But for the second year in a row, the gap hitter has been an offensive catalyst, providing occasional pop along the way.

"I don't keep track (of my homer total)," Giesey said. "I just swing. I try to swing for base hits all the time."

Amanda Elert and Emma Bartz top Carmel's homer list with 15 and 14, respectively. Jordan Swiatkowski has jacked 8 home runs. Karina Falkstrom blasted 3 solo shots last Saturday in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Joliet Catholic.

"I think we're just trying to hit and hit runners in," said Giesey, who led off the bottom of the first against Regina with a single and scored the first of Carmel's 4 runs in the inning. "We're not trying to focus on hitting home runs."

Carmel still pounded out 7 extra-base hits. Petrus and Swiatkowski each had a pair of doubles, Lauren Caffarelli doubled as well, and Dani DeLozier tripled. Giesey, DeLozier (RBI), Petrus (3 RBI), Swiatkowski (2 RBI) and Caffarelli (RBI) each had 2 hits.

The Corsairs flirted with two other homers. Petrus hit a ball off the fence in left field on the fly, and Taylor Ganan had her flyball caught by the left fielder at the fence. Petrus, a lefty hitter, hit her long fly the opposite way.

"We've stressed that," Schueneman said. "We didn't want to live and die by the home run."