Softball: Brust, Grayslake Central take pride in winning pace
The Senior Day dinger, Lindsay Brust's first homer this season, didn't cause the Grayslake Central senior to stop and admire it as she rounded first base.
She did freeze, however, just so she wouldn't pass teammate Elisa Koshy on the basepaths.
"I guess you can't do that," Brust said. "Even the ump said, 'You're lucky you slowed down, or I was going to get you on it.' I was like, 'I'll keep walking.' "
Well, maybe the many Grayslake Pride travel softball players - future Lindsay Brusts - admired Brust's 3-run homer that helped break open a close game and lift Grayslake Central to a 7-1 win over visiting Grayslake North in Northern Lake County Conference action Friday.
The annual Grayslake "Pride Night" produced a large crowd on a sunny, warm afternoon.
"It felt like we were playing regionals or postseason," Brust said. "It was really cool to see to everyone fill in the stands."
Grayslake Central (21-7, 10-3) remained tied for second place with Lakes in the NLCC, a game back of Antioch, which can wrap up the conference championship outright by beating Grayslake North next Thursday.
Grayslake North (12-16, 5-8) was one out away from being no-hit by Grayslake Central ace Reagen Radke when the teams played the first time. The second game was a better performance offensively by the Knights, who had 6 hits, including doubles by freshman Faith Standerski (2-for-3) and sophomore Grace Brown. Lauren Olsen drove in the visitors' only run with a two-out, second-inning single.
"A few costly walks, a few costly errors," said coach Lea Corcoran, whose Knights committed 4 errors and saw pitcher Jenna Pozezinski issue 5 walks. "But overall I thought this was a much better game than the last time. I felt we were a lot more focused. We came out firing, and even when things didn't go our way, I still felt we stayed in the game. We still went up there swinging and didn't shut down."
Grayslake Central honored its senior trio of Brust, Radke and shortstop Kaci Snyder before the game, and all three players contributed in the win. Snyder's sacrifice bunt in the fourth inning included a throwing error on the play and resulted in the Rams scoring the go-ahead run.
"All three of them have just been great for this program," coach Jason Schaal said.
Brust's homer came with Radke (walk) and Koshy (infield single) aboard and made the score 5-1. Koshy held up between first and second, waiting to see if Knights freshman center fielder Scout Kram would catch Brust's flyball before it cleared the fence.
"I couldn't be happier for Lindsay and her family for it to happen on a day like today," Schaal said. "It was a great hit."
Radke did the rest, as the right-hander struck out nine and didn't walk a batter.
"Reagen was Reagen," Schaal said. "When she's on her game, it's going to be hard to find a lot better than her."
Koshy (2-for-4) and Morgan Smigielski added RBI doubles in the sixth for the Rams. Brooke Heraty also had a double and drew 3 walks.
The fun-filled day even included Corcoran learning she had earned a spot on Grayslake Central's wall of fame. A 2005 graduate of then-Grayslake, she was a dominant pitcher for the Rams.
"I was not expecting it," Corcoran said of the honor, which she received after the top of the fourth. "(Schaal) told me he nominated me, but I didn't know it was going to happen today."