Softball: Lake Park falls to Lincoln-Way Central in extra innings
The ground-rule double that Mel Bogus belted in the sixth inning against Lincoln-Way Central on Tuesday was legit.
The Lake Park catcher sent a 1-0 pitch from reliever Amanda Weyh bouncing over the center-field fence at the Rosemont Dome, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position with nobody out.
That, however, was the only hit the Lancers got off Weyh, who tossed 6 scoreless innings with no walks and 10 strikeouts as the Knights rallied to win 9-5 in 8 innings.
"I didn't even see it," Bogus said of her hit. "I was just thinking of hitting because at that point we needed runs. I took advantage of the low strike and I just drove it."
But Lake Park (1-2) could not take advantage. Courtesy runner Gabby Vargas went to third on a one-out sacrifice by Alexa Frale but was stranded when Weyh retired Jessica Gaseor on a tap back to the mound.
Weyh, who took over after the Lancers got 7 hits off starter Danielle Abell, retired 18 of the 20 batters she faced, including the final 9. Bogus' double was the only ball that left the infield.
"This is our third game," Lake Park coach Tom Mazzie said. "(Weyh) was by far the best pitcher that we saw.
"She had a nice fluid motion. She worked both corners and got ahead to our hitters and when you get behind and don't take advantage early in the count against a pitcher like that, she's going to get you."
The Lancers got to Abell in the bottom of the first, scoring 4 runs to take a 4-2 lead. The first four batters reached base as Gaseor singled, Abby Rodriguez doubled, Emily Frank singled and Alyssa Sturino walked. Gwen DeWaele capped the inning with an RBI single.
Lake Park extended the lead to 5-2 in the second thanks to three straight singles from Rodriguez, Frank and Sturino. But Weyh replaced Abell in the third inning and the Lancers' bats fell silent.
"We kind of timed up the other pitcher," Bogus said. "We were slower because the second pitcher was faster, so we just needed to have a shorter swing. But unfortunately we couldn't do that."
The Knights (4-1) chipped away at the lead, scoring a run in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings to tie it. They racked up 17 hits, including at least one in every inning, and broke through for 4 runs off Frank in the top of the eighth.
Frank got the first batter of the inning, but a walk and an error brought up Sydra Seville, whose liner to left eluded the diving Frale and went for a 3-run, inside-the-park home run.
Kamryn Murphy led the Knights, who had 6 hitters get at least 2 hits, by going 4-for-5. Weyh and Jamie Furtek each added 3 hits.
"I thought they had good hitters," Mazzie said. "Our two pitchers I thought did a pretty good job keeping them off-balance.
"They got some strong hits early in the game, but most of the stuff that fell in late in the game was not center cut. Nevertheless, we need to be in games like this.
"I call this opportunity week for our kids. I'm trying to get everybody in and see what they can do."