Pumped-up Santora drops Oak Park

Ace Hannah Santora and hot-hitting Jenny Nelson had everything covered for the Glenbard North softball team in Game 1 Saturday.

Nelson's RBI single in the bottom of the third inning turned out to be all Santora and the Panthers needed for a 1-0 triumph over Oak Park in Carol Stream as the perennial powers renewed their rivalry after a two-year hiatus.

Santora outdueled Oak Park's Loyola-bound Seana Stillson, who pitched the Huskies (3-1) to the 2005 state title.

The Glenbard North junior pitcher fired a 2-hitter and totaled 10 strikeouts while walking one and hitting a batter in what she called her best performance of the young season.

"My pitches were working really good," said Santora, who plays with Stillson in the summer on the Beverly Bandits. "I was throwing junk today. My curveball and my riseball were working really good, and my changeup. … I was really pumped up."

"She had everything going," Glenbard North coach Josh Sanew said. "You can't say enough about what Hannah did out there. She threw a tremendous game. Those are two of the top pitchers you'll see in the state. It was a great game by both teams."

Nelson went 3-for-3 to collect half of her team's 6 hits versus Stillson. The lefty-swinging sophomore shortstop grounded a two-out, seeing-eye single up the middle to score Kelsey Lipponeur from third base in the third inning for the only run of the game.

"I actually thought the pitcher was going to stop it, but then it just went through," said Nelson, who's hitting .474 at 9-for-19 with 3 homers on the season.

Santora retired 14 of the final 16 batters she faced to record her second shutout and improve to 4-0.

"She did a real nice job," Oak Park coach Mel Kolbusz said. "We were swinging at a lot of up pitches, so I'm assuming she had a pretty good riseball."

Santora is 48-6 in her high school career.

In Game 2 Oak Park earned a split with a 3-2 victory in nine innings. Teru Kiefer's RBI single with one out in the top of the ninth was the difference.

Nelson's 2-run homer in the third put Glenbard North (4-2) up 2-1.

Lauren Gonzalez brought Oak Park even with a solo homer in the fifth.

Winning pitcher Sara Hutchinson improved to 2-0. Stephanie Iori fell to 0-2.