Liberty prevails in Elgin tournament
The Lake County Liberty softball team continued its winning ways recently.
After posting a 5-0 record and winning the USSSA Fall Illinois State Tournament championship in Crystal Lake in September, and going 3-1 to win its bracket at the Homer Hawks College Exposure Tournament, the Liberty went undefeated at the Orland Park Sparks Pumpkinfest II Tournament in Elgin.
The Orland Park and Homer Hawks Tournaments are two of the most heavily attended premier college recruiting tournaments in the Midwest, and a field of 60 top teams from 8 different Midwestern states participated in the Sparks' invitation-only competition.
With dozens of college coaches looking on, the Liberty, the 18U A-level travel team of the Lake County Fastpitch Softball Association, went 5-0 and outscored the competition 53-10 while clubbing 66 hits in the five-game tournament held at the Elgin Sports Complex. The Liberty's 53 runs scored were the most of any team.
Lake County opened the tournament by beating the host Orland Park Sparks 6-2, as Nikki Ramsay (McHenry) and Ryleigh Sears (Zion-Benton) had 2 hits apiece. Ramsay's booming 2-run double in the fifth was the game winning hit and made a winner out of pitcher Emily Ott (Maine West).
In Game 2, the Liberty defeated the Heatwave Purple Gold 10-3. Winning pitcher Amanda Daly (Johnsburg) helped her own cause by drilling a long 3-run homer over the left field fence and drove in 4 for the game. Maddi Tropp-Bluestone (Glenbrook North) had 3 hits and 2 RBI and Megan Gier (McHenry) also drove in 2. Sara Jacobson (Jacobs) chipped in with 2 hits and 2 stolen bases.
The Saturday nightcap saw the Liberty trounce the Oak Park Windmills 16-3. Led by Jenna Depa (Maine West) and Missy Green (New Trier) who each had 3 RBI, six Lake County players rapped out 2 hits apiece, including Depa, Green, Ott, Ramsay, Daly, and Jacobson. Shannon Lauret (Zion-Benton) scored 3 runs and swiped a base, and Maddie Riordan (Lakes) added a double for Lake County.
Sunday began with 3-hit shutout by Ott, as the Liberty whitewashed the Crystal Lake Tidal Waves 13-0. Ott, who went 25-2 for the Liberty last year, fanned 9 in picking up the win. Liberty bats hammered out 17 hits, including 4 by Daly and 3 by Ott, and the team's 7-run third inning put the game away. Ramsay, Lauret, Daly, Gier, and Riordan drove in 2 runs each and Jackie Kisman (Crystal Lake Central) scored twice and stole a pair of bases.
In the tournament's final matchup, the Liberty rolled past the previously unbeaten Orland Park A's by an 8-2 margin and took first place in their bracket. Green paced the Lake County offense with 3 hits, while Sears, Lauret and Ramsay knocked in 2 runs, as Daly, who hit .588 and drove in 7 runs for the tournament, recorded the victory in the circle.
With one tournament championship and two first-place bracket finishes, the Liberty closed out its fall tournament schedule with a 13-1 record.