Wrap: Stredde, Pierce lift South Elgin; WC wins its 1st
Caitlin Stredde needed a shot of confidence.
She got a whole glass full.
Struggling just a bit at the plate lately Stredde, South Elgin's sophomore leadoff hitter, lined a shot off the tip of the shortstop's glove with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday to score Brittany Boelter with the winning run as the Storm came from behind to defeat St. Charles East 9-8 in an Upstate Eight Conference softball game at South Elgin.
"Mentally I have to get back into hitting," said Stredde, an all-area player last year who was hitting .285 coming into Tuesday's game. "The pitchers are better this year, but I'm finally starting to hit. If my teammates start hitting I usually do too."
It was St. Charles East that was doing all the hitting early on Tuesday. The Saints (6-5, 4-1) parlayed 4 hits and 3 South Elgin errors into a commanding 7-0 lead off Storm junior left-hander Lauren Vitiello, who was making her first appearance of the season.
But as quickly as the Saints took their big lead, South Elgin (5-3, 2-3) started biting into it. The Storm scored 5 runs in the bottom of the third with the big knock coming off the bat of junior Florida transfer Kimberly Pierce, a 3-run blast over the left field fence and her third home run of the season. Courtney Bosteder's 2-run double 3 batters later made it a 7-5 game and gave the Storm some life.
South Elgin tied the game in the fourth when Pierce's two-out flyball to the outfield went off the fielder's glove, allowing Kiersa Parillo and Katelyn Stonecipher to score.
St. Charles East's Victoria Perez and South Elgin's Rebecca French, both pitching in relief, then held their opponents scoreless until the seventh when the Saints forged ahead 8-7, using a South Elgin throwing error and Cortney Morgan's bloop single to left to score Rebecca Reinbold, who had drawn a walk to lead off the inning.
But South Elgin stormed back in the bottom of the inning. Bosteder drew a leadoff walk and the Saints made a throwing error on Boelter's bunt, pushing Bosteder to third. She then beat the throw home when French bunted and the Saints threw to first, which also allowed Boelter to go to third Stredde, who had gone 0-for-3 before singling hard to the right side in the fifth. then ripped Perez's first pitch to the hole between third and short that was hit too hard for East shortstop Reinbold to do anything but get the tip of her glove on it as Boelter scored the winning run.
"Caitie is a great kid," said South Elgin coach Jason Schaal. "She's hit the ball hard lately but she really needed that hit as a confidence booster. This could propel her to get back on track."
Reinbold had a triple and Claire Desrosiers had 2 doubles for the Saints.
"You learn from it," said Saints coach Eric Ray. "Not one person on this team lost that game, we as a group lost that game and everyone out there learned something from it.
"You don't ever want to play like this in a conference game. We had this team buried. But kudos to South Elgin. They battled and battled. They really put their rally caps on."
CL South 5, Prairie Ridge 4: No, Emily Mahoney didn't drive the bus back to Crystal Lake South High School Tuesday afternoon.
Mahoney certainly accomplished enough on the softball field.
Mahoney contributed 3 hits, 2 runs scored and a RBI along with a solid pitching effort as the Gators held on for a 5-4 win over pesky Prairie Ridge in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game at PR.
Mahoney, who blanked the Wolves on 3 hits during the first 4 innings, gave up 4 runs in the fifth but settled down to shutd own PR in the final 2 innings to earn the win.
Mahoney, who is the Gators' No. 2 pitcher behind Jessica Gable, ended giving up 4 runs on 10 hits while striking out 5 with 2 walks.
"I had the one bad inning, but my defense played great in back of me," said Mahoney.
"Overall, I hit my spots and corners and was able to move the ball up and down. I realize Jessica is our top pitcher, but I need to pitch well when I get a chance. I was happy with the way I swung the bat today. I am seeing the ball well."
South coach Scott Busam knows Mahoney will get plenty of chances in the pitcher's circle.
"Emily is a good number 2 pitcher and will pitch a lot," said the South coach. "Emily had the one bad inning, but pitched very well. She is a very valuable part of this team and is really swinging the bat well."
Crystal Lake South (5-2) jumped on Prairie Ridge pitcher Erika Trojan for 2 runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Michelle Bump and Natalie Andrade.
South, which scored single runs in the third and fourth on RBI singles by Bump and Megan Hardie, led 4-0 after four innings.
The Wolves (5-4) battled back with 4 in the fifth to tie the score at 4. Kelsey Brennan contributed a RBI double and Anna Patras and Lauren Seegers collected RBI singles.
The Gators, who had 15 hits and left 12 on base, won the game in the sixth on a RBI double from Andrade off Prairie Ridge reliever Johanna Turner.
Other than Maloney's offensive exploits, Hardie, Bump, Andrade, Gina DeFano and Sammie Hardie collected 2 hits each for the winners. Lexi Wachman, Brennan, Seegers and Patras stroked 2 hits each for the Wolves.
-- Dave Hess
Westminster Christian 14, Willows Academy 12: The Westminster Christian offense was unstoppable pounding out 14-hits to lead the Warriors to the first varsity victory in program history as they continue their inaugural season in 2008. Julie Engen was the plate leader recording a triple, 3 runs, 5 RBI and 5 stolen bases.
Katie Moeller was effective on both ends of the field swiping 5 bases of her own off 2 hits, and was also inside the circle for the victory. Kayla Walsh contributed with 2 hits and 3 runs.
Burlington Central 8, North Boone 0: Erica Maisto fired a 1-hitter with 15 strikeouts as the Rockets (9-1, 2-0) rolled to this Big Northern East win. The win is Maisto's 65th in her career, leaving her 5 shy of tying the school record.
Eight of BC's 9 hitters had at least 1 hit in the win. Kayla Oranger was 3-for-4 with 2 stolen bases, Lindsay Lange had another big day with 2 home runs and 5 RBI and Brooke Porto slammed a homer and had 2 RBI. Katie Maleski doubled and Ashley Scheffler had an RBI for BC.
Neuqua Valley 16, Elgin 5: Elgin (1-7, 1-3) fell in Upstate Eight Conference action despite solid plate appearances from Caris Alan (2-for-3, 2 runs, sb, RBI), Jenna Jaynes (hit, 2 RBI) and Brandi Hernandez (hit, run). Kelly Patchett was inside the circle for the loss.
Cary-Grove 10, CL Central 0: Inside the circle for Cary-Grove (8-2), Meredith Riemann blanked Crystal Lake Central helping the Trojans to this 10-0 Fox Valley Conference crossover victory allowing just 2 hits while fanning five. Pounding out 14 hits, plate efforts were led by McKenzie Vaughn (2-for-4, 2b, 2 runs, 2 RBI), Ellen Jesse (2-for-4, 2 doubles, RBI, 2 runs) and Kelly Smith (3-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI).
Jacobs 7, Huntley 1: With a 2-hit complete game effort by Kara Arcenaux (2-0), Jacobs (6-1) earned this Fox Valley Conference crossover win. Arcenaux allowed just one run on 2 hits while striking out 10 batters. She also went 2-for-3 at the dish with a run scored and an RBI. The Golden Eagles offense was led by Lizzie Andrews (2-for-3, 2b, run, RBI) and Becky Wilson (2-for-4, run).
Samantha Clemons (7 IP, 9 hits, 2 strikeouts) endured the loss. Jenna Mychko and Alex Albanese had the lone hits for Huntley (5-3).
Bartlett 16, East Aurora 0: The Hawks (10-1, 6-0) challenged East Aurora with the bats in the Upstate Eight Conference. Combining for 14 hits Bartlett was led by a series of doubles two from Steph Jones (3 RBI) alone. Megan Morales (3-4), Alexis Fordon (2-4) and Jillian Heidelmeier (3-4) each had a double to put Bartlett on the board early. Tia Filishio and Callie Dennison both went 2 for 4. Callie Dennison (4-0) picked up her fourth win in the circle this season collecting 5 strikeouts with 1 walk in 5 innings.
Hampshire 4, Harvard 3: The Whip Purs (8-2) battled it out with Harvard in the Big Northern East Conference for the win. Jordan Moore led at the plate with a 2-run home run. Megan Roadcap also went 2-for-3 to add to Hampshire's combined 5 hit victory. Allie Kent pitched all 7 innings collecting 5 strikeouts with 1 walk.
Lake Park 10, Larkin 3: With a double, Corinne Wimmer led the Larkin offense in this Upstate Eight Conference loss. Sarah McCleary (1-4) was inside the circle for the Royals (2-7, 2-3).