Larkin 7, Waubonsie Valley 4
Sophie Sterricker may not want to become a left-handed hitter just yet but a little practice from the opposite side paid big dividends for her and the Larkin softball team Friday.
Sterricker, the Royals' senior cleanup hitter, had a breakout day, going 4-for-4 including a towering home run in the sixth inning as host Larkin got past Waubonsie Valley 7-4 in an Upstate Eight Conference game in Elgin.
"My hands have been uneven and coach (Larry Hight) suggested I warm up left-handed to even them out," said Sterricker. "The past couple of games I haven't been in a zone at all but I saw the ball better today. I knew I needed to step up because we really needed a win."
"Hitting is a goofy thing and I thought that just might help balance her swing out," said Hight.
The Royals (3-9, 3-4) pounded out 13 hits off two Waubonsie Valley pitchers. Freshman Corinne Wimmer was 3-for-4 and senior Elliss Hatchett added 2 hits for Larkin.
The Royals scored in the first on Sterricker's RBI single that brought Hatchett home. They added a run in the second when Leigh Wyatt, Brittany Heine and Kailee Moore put together successive singles, with Moore's hit scoring Wyatt..
Larkin extended its lead to 4-0 in the fourth. Wimmer singled, took second when Sarah McCleary was hit by a pitch, third on a passed ball and then home on another Sterricker single. McCleary then came home on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, Waubonsie Valley (1-10, 1-5) made an error on Brittany Heine's infield grounder, which rolled all the way to the fence and allowed Heine to get to third base. She scored on a wild pitch to put the Royals up 5-0.
The Warriors came back with 3 runs off Larkin senior Heather Graff in the top of the sixth. Lisa Corrigan, Jackie Kreiner and Jamie Coit each had RBI in the inning.
But McCleary's sacrifice fly to score Wimmer just before Sterricker's bomb over the center field fence restored Larkin's 4-run lead in the bottom of the inning.
Waubonsie Valley added a run ion the top of the seventh on Becky Horton's RBI single but, with the tying run at the plate, Sterricker made a nice catch of Corrigan's sinking line drive and Graff struck out Kreiner to end the game.
"We weren't aggressive enough at the beginning of the game and we left some runners on base," said Waubonsie Valley coach Kris Kalivas, whose team had 9 hits but left 8 runners on base. "I'm proud of the kids for battling and coming back. We stayed focused together as a team."
Graff (2-4) picked up the win for the Royals and Becky Randall suffered the loss for the Warriors.
"Heather battled and we held our poise," said Hight. "When they came back and made it 5-3 we answered with two and we haven't done that all year."