Softball: Buffalo Grove's Maineville thrives in Dome debut

While most softball teams took Saturday off due to the frigid weather, St. Viator and Buffalo Grove went indoors to play their nonconference game.

And Bison freshman pitcher Kylie Mainville, seeing her first varsity action, made herself right at home in the Rosemont Dome.

With her team trailing 1-0, Mainville entered the game in the top of the third inning and threw five scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts as Buffalo Grove rallied for a 5-1 triumph over the Lions.

"She came in and did a really good job," said Bison coach Starr Dorsey. "She didn't necessarily have her best stuff with drop ball breaking the way she'd like, but she was able to locate all her pitches really well.

"She hit her spots well and really took away the inner part of the plate from some good hitters for St. Viator."

Lions all-area first baseman Haley Robinson singled home Maggie VanValkenburg in the first inning to give Viator its 1-0 lead.

But the Bison went ahead for good in the bottom of the third inning, scoring 3 runs before making an out.

Senior Olivia Morini led off the rally with a single to left and sophomore second baseman Megan Fontanetta (struck out four in first two innings on the mound) followed with a base hit to center.

Junior Sam Hansen tripled to left center for the 2-1 lead before she came home on Bailey Williams' base hit. Lauren Beiersdorf (1-for-3) then walked. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch.

But Lions senior pitcher Jessica Taylor escaped further damage with 2 strikeouts and a popout to shortstop Nicole Ardito.

"Jessica went all the way and got big strikeouts when she needed them,' said Lions coach John Scotillo, whose team is 0-10, having played three other games indoors in Peoria and four in Florida. "And she got out of a lot of jams. That was good pitching on her part."

The top part of the Bison bating order was productive, especially center fielder and leadoff batter Morini (2-for-2, 2 walks) and No. 3 hitter and catcher Hansen (3-for-3, hit-by-pitch).

Shortstop Jacqueline Bickhaus and third baseman Katelyn O'Rourke each had 2 assists in the field and 1 hit. Hansen also threw a runner out trying to steal second base.

"It was nice to be able to get a game in and to work together as a team and get a win," said Morini, who plans to study engineering at Iowa State. "Everyone played a big role. It's nice to be able to play despite the weather outside. Overall, it was just good to get to play and get more experience."

It was the third game for BG, which lost to Glenbrook North and defeated Glenbard East.

"It's just good to get a game in," Dorsey added. "The weather has hit us hard. We're 2-1 going into conference and I think tonight was the best we've looked so we're excited to get into conference this week."

Dorsey liked how the Bison responded after the first time through the batting order.

"They shut us down really well the first time but then we made some corrections and settled in. Olivia was getting on base and Sam really settled in and was doing what she does best - making contact and making them plays defensively.

"If we can get the top half of the order going and Jacqueline (Bickhaus, No. 9 hitter) at the bottom, that's what we want. I think we're at our best when we come up 9-1-2, with Jacqueline leading off for us."

Robinson led the Lions' offense by going 3-for-4 with while Ardito and Taylor each had a pair of hits. Teammate Morgan Bielfeldt doubled.

"We just didn't get the big hit when we needed it," Scotillo said. "We had runners on base and just didn't get timely hits. We're hoping as the weather warms up, our bats will warm up, too."