Numbers turn around for Jablonski, Pirates
Joanne Jablonski has been wearing No. 13 on her softball jersey for as long as she can remember.
"I know a lot of people say it's an unlucky number, but I say it's good for me. I like it."
Well, 1 plus 3 equals 4.
And No. 4 sure seemed to be a magic number for Jablonski Tuesday at Buffalo Grove.
The sophomore center fielder was 4-for-4 with 4 RBI to help lead the Pirates to a 10-3 victory over the Bison in the Mid-Suburban crossover contest.
"She (Jablonski) was good," said Bison coach Laura Stock of the Pirates' No. 3 hitter, who was an all-area selection as a freshman. "She hit the ball hard on every at bat."
"I've been in a slump and I wanted to come out of it today and get some big hits.," Jablonski said. "This was really a good game for us, especially after last week when we lost three straight games (Barrington, Conant and Schaumburg). We wanted to get some confidence going again."
Pirates coach Jeff Manz agreed that the Pirates' hitting had tailed off last week.
"It was nice to see Jo (Jablonski) get those hits," he said "She had been struggling. And it was nice to see our other kids get on a roll with the bats. Our slappers were able to put pressure on them and we had a lot of nice timely hitting."
Pirates sophomore left fielder Sam Salomone was 2-for-4 while teammates Katie Mnichowicz, Alyx Ballenger, Katie Narwot and Michelle Dellamaria each had 1 hit.
The Pirates (9-7, 3-3) were able to collect some key two-out RBI singles, including one by Salomone in the top of the fifth which brought home pinch runner Melissa Serio.
Sophomores K.C. Dunne and Andrea DiPrima went 3-for-4 to lead the offense for the Bison (10-9, 2-5) while classmate Danni Shapiro was 2-for-3 with a pair of run-scoring singles to right field.
Senior third baseman Meg Miller also singled for the Bison.
"We had a rough day defensively," said Stock, whose club made 4 errors."And I thought their pitcher (Chrissy Roto, who had 7 strikeouts in six innings before Dani Boisvert went the final inning) did a good job keeping us off balance early in the game. And they played good defense."
Elk Grove 10, R. Meadows 0 (5): The host Grenadiers (17-1, 5-0) remained the only undefeated team in the MSL East as junior Stephanie Maday (9-1) threw a 3-hitter with 7 strikeouts and no walks in the five-inning contest.
Grens sophomore Jessica Balzano belted a towering 3-run homer over the left-field fence in the third inning and was 2-for 2 with a walk, double, 3 runs and 3 RBI.
Amanda Mertes (2-for-3, 2 run, RBI), Nikki Goranson (2-for-3, 2 RBI, 1 run), Kristy Ottosen (2-for-3, 1 run, RBI) and Megan Keegan (double) were other top hitters for the hosts. Meadows pitcher Kayla Mueller struck out four.
Prospect 9, Wheeling 5: Amanda Mlikan (2-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 doubles), Allison Malewig (2-for-3) and Lisa Dominick (2-for-3) were top hitters for the Knights (3-16, 1-5) in their first MSL win. Katie Dillon had a double and was also robbed of a home run by left fielder Kristen Durbin, who caught Dillon's blast over the fence in the third inning. Hanna Lythberg followed with a long foul ball near the outfield fence that was also caught by Durbin.
Sam Mangrum threw a 4-hitter with 4 strikeouts for the win.
Sammie Spinabella was 2-for-4 for the Wildcats (2-10, 0-6) while Scout Scanlon and Durbin each had 1 hit.
St. Viator 4, Highland Park 0: Melanie Slawny threw a 6-hitter with 7 strikeouts for the Lions, who were led on offense by Abby Dickey's 3 hits, including a double.
Lions sophomore Alyssa Wojciak got her first varsity hit and RBI and finished with 2 hits.
Loyola 12, Hersey 0: Julie Klawitter's one-out single in the fifth inning was the only base hit for the host Huskies (4-11) in the nonconference game. Teammates Aleene Morgenthaler and Aubrey Fulton also reached base on errors.