Softball: Palatine's Grossman rock solid in 5-0 shutout

Palatine's Sarah Grossman was hitting all the high notes early, striking out the side in the first two innings against visiting Carmel Catholic.

The senior right-hander stayed in tune the rest of the way, throwing a 2-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts in a 5-0 victory over the visiting Corsairs from Mundelein as both teams opened their softball seasons on Thursday.

"Sarah was a rock star on the mound," said Palatine coach Nicole Capalbo, who watched her team avenge an 11-7 loss to Carmel in last year's second game of the season. "It's like she just picked up right where she left off last season."

"Every single one of us have been working our butts off during the off-season," said Grossman, who was 13-1 last spring with 170 strikeouts. "We all had things to work on and we've put them together pretty well. We are all excited."

Junior Grace Huff excited Palatine fans when she led off the bottom of third with her first career homer.

The Pirates leadoff batter punched a 1-1 pitch deep to left field. It hit off the top of the fence and went over to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Palatine wasn't finished, adding two more runs in the inning. Brittany Padden singled home Maddie Craver and Grace Seiffert's sacrifice fly to center drove home Padden for the 3-0 cushion.

"I knew my teammates would back me up with some runs," Grossman added. "It's always more comfortable pitching with runs behind me. Grace has put in a lot of work. She deserved that (home run).

"Last year, they (Carmel) got us 11-7 so to get them back 5-0 is a good start for us."

The start for Carmel was not all that disappointing to third-year coach Shane Schueneman, whose team is coming off a 20-14 season.

"We didn't play too bad of a game," he said. "I'm not disappointed at all. It was our first time out. Wednesday was our first day on dirt. Sydney (Schuda) threw a great game.

"Our approach at the plate was a little early. We were on our heels a little bit, letting her (Grossman) get ahead of us with those six strikeouts to start the game. We can't do that. We've got to a little more aggressive at the plate.

"But not a bad start defensively. We had a couple of mistakes. Other than that, she pitched a great game."

Carmel had chances in the middle innings but Grossman was up to the challenge each time.

Marla Walinski led of the fourth with a walk and Jordan Swiatkowski delivered a one-out single.

Grossman escaped with a strikeout and groundout to shortstop Emily Parrott.

In the fifth, McKenna Pett led off with a single and leadoff batter Emily Haley later walked before Grossman came away unscathed again with a groundout to second baseman Seiffert.

"They won 26 games last year and have seven starters back," Schueneman said. "We knew they'd be tough. We're a little young now. But that's fine. We didn't play that bad."

Huff ended up 2-for-4 with a double in the fourth inning.

She had no idea the ball she it in the third inning was leaving the park.

"I was just running my hardest and I know my teammates are supporting me," she said. "We worked really well as a team."

"Grace has been working hard in the weight room during the off-season so I was not surprised by that (homer)," Capalbo said. "She is a totally versatile player hitting from the left side. She can do anything - bunt, slap or hit."

Craver went 3-for-4 and it took a nifty stop of her hard one-hopper by Carmel second baseman Emy Krysa to prevent a perfect day at the plate.

Parrott enjoyed a 2-for-3 performance with a RBI double in the sixth inning. Padden went 1-for-2 with 2 RBI.

"The defense was good and we were hitting the ball hard up and down the lineup which is always nice to see," Capalbo added. "It was a good start to the season."