Worth the wait

Waiting nearly three weeks to play their first softball game, Schaumburg's Saxons and pitcher Missy Anderson weren't going to let a little rain dampen their season opener Thursday.

"The mound was very soggy," said the Saxons junior right-hander, who tossed a 5- hitter on her own diamond for a 6-2 win in 5½ innings. "But I just tried to overcome it by pushing down on ground.

"I wanted to be able to pitch as best I could so we could get out of innings and go ahead and score some runs for ourselves."

Anderson helped out there, too, as the cleanup hitter.

She drove home 2 runs in the first inning and went 2-for-3 at the plate with 2 runs scored and a walk.

Anderson's batterymate, sophomore Ali Poehlmann, also clicked offensively, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and 2 runs.

"The middle of their order was very good," said Lions coach Dan Twarog, whose team started its season one day earlier with a 7-1 loss at Prospect. "They didn't let a pitch near the strike zone get past them. They even clubbed a few changeups."

The sharp first-game performances of Anderson (3 strikeouts, 1 walk) and Poehlmann did not elude the eye of second-year Saxons coach Erin Doyle.

"Missy did a great job on the mound," Doyle said. "And Ali did a great job behind the plate working with her. They also got things going for us as our No. 3 and 4 hitters."

The Saxons got things going right off the bat as they scored 4 runs in the first inning.

In addition to Anderson's big double to the gap in left-center which brought home Caitlin Becker and Brittany Hill, Poehlmann also had an RBI single.

Shortstop Nicole Chase capped the rally when she doubled to left to bring home Anderson.

"It feels awesome to have played our first game," Anderson said. "We have been so anxious because we've had so many games postponed. The key was getting the early lead, hitting and our baserunning."

Doyle also watched senior right fielder Anjelica Hager single in the first and record a groundout RBI in the fifth inning.

Hager came up with nifty defensive play in the top of the sixth when she fielded Emily Catanese's grounder, then threw to first baseman Sarah McGinn, who made a nice stretch for the putout.

The second out of the inning came via a nice running catch by center fielder Becker to take a hit away from Lauren Banaszak, who had already singled twice to center with an RBI in the fourth.

Anderson then got the final batter to ground out to second and the game was called because of a driving rain.

"Their pitcher made us put the ball in play and they fielded it," Twarog said "She did a good job to control the game that way."

"We finally got on the field," Doyle said. "And the kids played really well. They looked sharp, quick and everything came together."

Viator's first run came in the second when Tayler Lenart led off with a bunt single. Bridget Urbanus sacrificed her to second and Lenart came home on Abby Dickey's double to center.

Danielle Sipiora scored the Lions' other run in the fourth inning when she led off with a single to right and eventually scored on Banaszak's hit.

"I was encouraged by our hitters' ability to put the bat on the ball," Twarog sad. "I think we have to work more on our fielding. I thought our movement was good, but we just have to execute."

Melanie Slawny went the first 3 innings for Viator and Jess Etchingham the final 2 innings.