Softball: Davis' clutch hit lifts Lakes past Libertyville

Cindy Davis missed the at-bat of the game.

Her daughter didn't miss the pitch. Not this time.

Lakes' softball team had an unlikely hero in its home opener Tuesday, as Lexi Davis lined a tiebreaking, 2-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning off Libertyville ace Hannah Heraty. The hit - Davis' first at the varsity level - came on an 0-2 pitch and capped a 4-run frame, lifting the Eagles to a stunning 4-2 comeback win.

"I'm pretty excited," Davis said. "My mom's going to be mad she left. She left after my second at-bat."

Davis, a junior who played JV ball last season, struck out her first two times up. She was making her varsity debut after not playing in Lakes' season-opening loss at Marengo on Monday. When the designated player came to bat for the third time, the bases were loaded with two out. A two-out, bags-loaded error on the infield had allowed Lakes (1-1) to pull within 2-1. Georgia Ohren then singled in the tying run.

That brought up Davis, who quickly fell behind in the count.

"She was struggling up there," Lakes coach Bill Hamill said. "She was way out in front of everything. (Heraty) was living on the outside. I was getting mad at all of them for not taking the ball to the right side."

Davis flicked a single up the middle.

"I just decided to keep my head up and stay confident the whole time," Davis said. "When I get down on myself, I know I'm not going to do well."

Only positive thoughts ran through her head, despite facing one of the county's best pitchers in the Dayton-bound Heraty.

"I was thinking, 'You better hit this,' " Davis said with a laugh.

Heraty (6 IP, 0 ER, 5 K, 8 H, 1 BB) retired the next batter, but the damage was done. Lakes sent nine batters to the plate in the sixth and smacked 5 hits, including a double by Molly Dietz and single by Kelsey Ulrich, who legged out a groundball to shortstop.

"We just didn't, flat-out, play that inning," said coach Elissa Wisniewski, whose Wildcats, 29-game winners last season, were playing their season opener. "We made an error and, when you have a close game, you just can't do that. ... We tell them all the time, 'It takes one pitch to change a game.' We have to be able to shake off errors, and we weren't able to do that."

Maddie Hollinger led off the top of the seventh with Libertyville's sixth hit, but Eagles pitcher Kayla Foote got the next three batters.

Foote, who also pitched against Marengo, is a transfer from Kenosha Christian Life. The junior right-hander allowed just 1 earned run against Libertyville, striking out one and walking two. Ulrich, the Eagles' second baseman, handled four groundballs flawlessly, while shortstop Rachel Becker turned a 6-3 double play.

"I think I did OK for the most part," Foote said. "I think my defense helped me a lot."

Foote looks to replace Ally Perdue (UW-La Crosse), who served as Lakes' ace the last three years.

"She keeps the ball low," Hamill said of Foote. "She does a nice job for us. I didn't know much about her. The most difficult part is, (catcher) Karlie (Rotunno) caught Ally for three years. Now she's got somebody different out there. The communication seems pretty good, and both of them are really good kids. That's a good combination of pitcher and catcher."

Heraty smoked an RBI double for Libertyville's first run. Leadoff-hitter Kenzie Rother was 2-for-4 for the Wildcats.

Lakes got 2 hits apiece from leadoff-batter Becker, Dietz and Ulrich.

"It definitely feels good," Foote said, "to get a win under our belt."