Panthers talk small ball, hit the long ball

The Glenbard North softball team didn't exactly listen to new coach Josh Sanew Tuesday afternoon.

Not that he minded.

After Sanew called for his players to play small ball with a strong wind blowing in, they broke out the long ball.

Jenny Blasius and Jenny Nelson each socked a solo home run to power the Panthers to a 2-0 triumph over Riverside-Brookfield in nonconference action in Carol Stream.

"I guess they were trying to shut me up," Sanew joked.

Blasius didn't waste any time giving Glenbard North (2-0) a 1-0 lead. The junior second baseman crushed a home run over the left-field fence leading off the bottom of the first inning.

It wasn't her plan to go deep.

"I was just trying to get a hit because coach told before the game, 'We really just want you to get on base your first at-bat,' and I was like, 'OK,' " said Blasius, who went 2-for-2 with a walk.

Nelson's homer came in the third. The lefty hitter sliced a liner over the fence in left.

It was the sophomore shortstop's second homer in as many games. Both have been to left.

"Usually I'm pulling it," Nelson said. "I'm surprised that I'm hitting it opposite field."

That was plenty of offense for Glenbard North pitcher Hannah Santora. The junior finished with a 2-hitter and 13 strikeouts. She walked two.

"I thought she threw excellent," Sanew said. "As the game went on I felt she got even stronger."

Santora struck out the side in the fifth and sixth innings en route to retiring the final eight batters. She improved to 2-0.

Lindsay Hayes took the loss for R-B (1-1). The junior allowed 5 hits, walked three and struck out three in her first start.

"She pitched a good game, I thought, but made two bad pitches," Bulldogs coach Dan Hull said.

After committing 4 errors in their season opener, the Panthers played errorless ball in their second outing of the season.

"We cleaned it up," Sanew said. "Our first game we struggled a little bit defensively and today (we had) no errors in the field. You got to be clean defensively in this game and that's what we've really tried to stress."

Of course, hitting a home run every now and then doesn't hurt either.