Softball: Mighty McMarthy homers twice in Conant win

The motto for Conant's offense this season is '60 Feet.'

"So I am always just thinking base hit," said Cougars senior center fielder and leadoff batter Makenna McCarthy.

But when you're on the tear to start the season like McCarthy, those 60 feet (to first base) sometimes become 240 feet with one swing of the bat.

McCarthy belted 2 home runs and went 3-for-3 with 3 runs in the Cougars' 7-5 come-from-behind win at Prospect (7-2, 2-1) in Tuesday's Mid-Suburban League crossover softball game.

The game was originally scheduled to be held in Hoffman Estates. But the Cougars' field was unplayable so the game was moved to Prospect with the Knights as the visitor on the scoreboard.

Conant (5-2, 3-0) fell behind 4-1 but McCarthy's leadoff single to right began a 4-run bottom of the third inning and Conant never trailed again.

McCarthy went on to blast two two-out solo homers over the center field fence - one in the fourth inning for a 6-4 lead and another in the sixth for the 7-5 advantage.

"Makenna is unstoppable right now," said Conant coach Cathyann Smith. "She really has the heart for the game. She is one of the most competitive players I've coached the last few years and I think it's making a difference.

"The kids are all rising to the occasion. They came back and hit hard and I was impressed with their ability to regroup after some mistakes in that fourth inning."

Cougars senior catcher Sydney Correa belted another one of those hard hits when she led off the bottom of second inning with a homer run to center, giving Conant 1-0 lead.

Freshman Julia Flaishaker (2-1) went the first 3 innings and left with the Cougars ahead 5-4.

Senior Jackie Carlucci came in and allowed 1 run on 2 hits in the final four innings against a Prospect offense that had scored at least 9 runs in eight games.

"They (Carlucci and Flaishaker) work together nicely and complement each other," Smith said. "Jackie was hitting her spots. Julia is doing a nice job as a freshman. She is working hard and doing what we ask to her to do and it's making a difference."

Prospect coach Krystina Mackowiak felt the difference was the bottom of the third, inning when Conant surged ahead.

"We gave them a few too many chances in that third inning and it ended up being the difference in the game," she said. "They obviously had some good hits, but that one inning did us in."

In the top half of the inning, Prospect scored 4 of its 5 runs. Alex Kanter, Cassie Cunniff and Lauren Caldrone all reached base to start the inning followed by Alyssa Cacini's 2-run single left. Colleen Palczynski also had a sacrifice fly RBI.

Cunniff, Caldrone (triple) and Cacini each went 2-for-4 while Palczynski had the other hit for Prospect.

"As a whole, we just need to be a little more consistent throughout the lineup," Mackowiak said. "We need to string a few more baserunners together."

Also getting multiple hits for Conant were Correa (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Paige Nallen (2-for-3). Delaney Szwed and Jackie Burchfield also had hits for the Cougars.

"We all knew it would be a really tough game," said McCarthy, who had 5 homers last spring with 21 RBI. "The third inning was a little tough but our pitchers came through. We had a few mistakes but we all came together for the win."

Carlucci, who is 3-1, struck out six.

"I really just stayed focused" said the Wisconsin-Eau Claire recruit. "That was the big thing for me. I just wanted to hit my spots. I just tried to keep their strong hitters off balance."