Softball: South Elgin finds it offense at Conant
Six days ago, South Elgin's softball team returned home from a trip to Tennessee where the Storm did not exactly rip the cover off the softball with the bats.
But all was not lost.
"We haven't been hitting the ball," said Storm coach Brad Reynard. "But we did (Thursday). We looked like a completely different team. So those swings down in Tennessee really helped."
Casey Brennan's leadoff homer helped get the offense rolling and many of her teammates got into the act as the Storm posted a 9-4 nonconference triumph at Conant on Thursday.
Seven different players had hits for the visitors who produced a season-high 9 runs.
The 11-hit attack included a 3-for-4 performance by senior right fielder Julianna Battaglia, who had a big 2-run double to center in the Storm's 4-run top of the seventh.
"One through nine, we hit today." Reynard said.
"They have strong, solid hitters," said Conant coach Cathyann Smith. "So we have to be better about hitting the corners."
Sam Dietz was 2-for-4 and robbed of a third hit when Cougars second baseman Paige Nallen made a nice play to her left on a hard hit grounder. Nallen threw in time to first baseman Syndey Correa for the first out of the fourth inning.
It was Dietz' 2-run double to right in the seventh-inning rally that gave the Storm its 9-3 lead.
Sophomore Sophia Salazar then closed out the win for starter Sidney Strama (5⅔ innings, a junior (2-2) who is committed to Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga.
In the bottom of the seventh, Jackie Burchfield belted an RBI one-out double to left to score sophomore Alexa Nallen before Salazar got back-to-back groundouts to give the Storm its second win in seven games.
"Sophia is a great mix (with Strama)," Reynard said. "She brings it. She's kind of just learning her craft. She's young. But it's just her height difference, the intimidation and how she throws it. It's a good mix between those two.
"Sidney has been outstanding. Her 2-2 record kind of misrepresents how well she has thrown it this year. I like our (pitching) staff. We have four kids coming back next year with two sophomores and two juniors."
The Storm gave Strama a 2-0 lead after one inning.
Alivia Doyle had an RBI double to left center to score McKenna Eichholz (2-for-3, triple, 3 runs) after Benner's homer.
The lead grew to 3-0 in the second when Battaglia came home on Brennan's sacrifice fly to right.
"If you start the game by getting ahead, it's easier to stay ahead than come from behind," Battaglia said. "We finally had a game where we came out aggressively. Everyone came with a plan and executed it.
"Our trip to Tennessee was like spring training for us. We were getting looks, getting live hitting. Finally this game, we all came ready to play, staying positive, executing our plans and driving the ball."
Conant senior McKenna McCarthy drove a 3-run homer over the left field fence with one out in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 3-3.
McCarthy's second home run in two days brought home pitcher Jackie Carlucci (single off left field wall) and Alexa Nallen (bunt single).
South Elgin broke the tie in the top of the sixth when Battaglia and Strama delivered back-to-back RBI singles to make it 5-3.
The Storm added four more in the seventh when Geneva Pollman started the rally with a double.
"We knew South Elgin would come out tough," said Smith, whose team (1-2) returns to action on Wednesday at Maine South. "We need to work on being better from the get go, hitting our spots pitching and making sure we are being more selective in our at-bats.
"I'm proud of how they did attack the ball when needed to. We just have to work on a little more consistency. And we are still working on coming together and getting to know each other as a team. Little by little, we will keep working at it."