Softball: A fast start for Glenbard South hitters

It's looking like this may be a long, busy spring for the Glenbard South softball scorekeepers and one assistant coach in particular.

It's only been two games, but a Raiders program known for great baserunning and defense - and plenty of tight, low-scoring affairs - has swung the bats mighty well so far.

After a 10-9 season-opening loss to Wheaton North, the Raiders pounded out 18 hits in Friday's 13-7 win at Naperville North. A 7-run outburst in the top of the sixth inning gave Glenbard South a comfortable lead and also meant assistant coach Michelle Yudys had to do seven cartwheels for the team following the win.

Coach Julie Fonda and her players have a long-standing tradition that requires an assistant coach to perform cartwheels for each run scored in the sixth inning.

After a 7-hit inning scored 7 runs and turned a 5-4 game into a 12-4 lead for the visitors, the Raiders were well on their way to their first win of the year and Yudys was set to get a nice little workout after the game.

"I'm real proud of our hitting in the first two games," Fonda said. "Usually that's what you struggle with the first part of the season, but they've come ready to hit. Their approaches at the plate have been great. This is a little weird for me. It's not Raider softball, really. I'll take it, though, as obviously, we're scoring runs."

Leadoff hitter Mady Carli was the catalyst, going 4-for-5 with 4 stolen bases, but pitcher and No. 3 hitter Daniella Little also helped her cause, following up a pair of doubles with a home run to center field in the seventh inning.

"Everyone did great at the plate. We really attacked and tried to hit the first strike," said Carli, a center fielder who had a line shot single and a run in the first inning Friday, then flashed her speed with infield singles in both the fifth and sixth innings. "We were hitters at the plate. We're young and we have a lot of potential, and (Little is) doing a great job pitching and at the plate."

Little picked up some varsity experience last spring as a freshman and looks primed for a big sophomore season. Against the Huskies, Little doubled and scored in the third, had an RBI double in the sixth and then hit her second homer in as many games.

"Top to bottom, everyone was hitting and that helps a lot," Little said. "We had a little of everything. And every sixth inning when we score runs our one assistant coach has to do cartwheels for every run, so she was busy today."

For Naperville North, Maddie Vassar had a 2-run double in a 3-run third inning and Callie Ladone singled and scored in the fifth inning to close to within 5-4 before the Raiders' late outbursts.

"They battled the whole time," said Huskies coach Jerry Kedziora, whose team was short-handed due to spring break. "They kept their spirit up the whole time and we had a lot of great at-bats. We took pitches that we wouldn't hit very hard and took them for strikes and came back and hit the next ones hard for hits."

Huskies pitcher Christina Karabetsos, who lost a lightning-shortened 2-1 game to Oswego on Thursday, went the distance against the Raiders on Friday.