Northwest suburban softball roundup
Give the Buffalo Grove softball team a trio of games and the Bison will give you a good effort.
For the second straight spring, they won their own slugfest by winning all three games, including a 3-2 victory in the championship against an Antioch team which is now 18-2.
"All in all, it went very well,"said Bison coach Laura Stock, who watched her team raise its record to 13-10. "Everyone played together."
BG started the tourney with Maria Dax getting a 3-0 shutout over Warren. The sophomore right-hander struck out six and walked one.
Sophomores K.C. Dunne (2-for-3) and Andrea DiPrima (3-for-3, 2 RBI) led the Bison, who scored once in the first and twice in the seventh.
BG won its second game in nine innings, a 2-1 decision over Grayslake North.
Sophomore Emily Begnel (4-4) went the whole game, striking out four with 2 walks and 4 hits.
DiPrima's double drove home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
Lexi Bueno singled home the other BG run in the sixth. Dunne went 2-for-4 and scored 2 runs.
BG pulled off a pair of double plays in the contest.
"We stepped up and made the plays on defense," Stock said. "It was good to see our defense play well in pressure situations. "
In the championship, BG scored all its runs in the top of the sixth.
After freshman Ali Levato walked, Dunne and DiPrima singled to load the bases.
Following a popout, Begnel delivered a 3-run double.
Antioch outhit the Bison 9-4 and stranded 13 runners.
Dax (5-1) earned her second win of the day, striking out four and walking three (two intentional).
"I was happy with Maria's pitching," Stock said. "And Emily did a great job in Game 2. K.C. and Andrea hit very well and Meg Miller had a big RBI."
Elk Grove 5, Lake Park 3: Often known in the past for its "small ball" efficiency, Elk Grove (20-1) changed things up in Roselle and used the long ball to win the nonconference game.
Senior Nikki Granson (2-for-2, 3 RBI, 2 runs) belted a one-out, solo homer to dead center in the first inning and then connected for a 2-run blast over the left-field fence with two outs in the fourth.
Junior Olivia Roback belted a two-out homer over the left-field fence in the first inning.
Senior Amanda Mertes (2-for-4, 2 runs) was on base for both of the 2-run homers.
Junior Stephanie Maday (11-1) picked up the win and the save. She re-entered the game in the sixth after leaving in the fourth.
Resurrection 4, Palatine 3 (8): Visiting Resurrection scored the winning run in the top of the eighth as junior Chrissy Roto (5-6) struck out five for the Pirates (10-9) in the nonconference game.
Sophomores Joanne Jablonski and Barbie Gutwein had doubles for the Pirates, while Heather Zimmerman, Kelsey Griffin and Alyx Ballenger each had an RBI. Katie Nawrot stole a base for the Pirates.
St. Charles tourney: St. Charles East needed at least a tie against Hoffman Estates to win the tournament.
A loss and the Hawks (6-13), who went 2-2 in the tournament, could have won.
The Saints pulled out a 2-1 win over Hoffman.
Hoffman Estates took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Colleen Roberts led off with a triple and scored on Alex Wulbecker's RBI single to right on an 0-2 pitch.
"Overall I was very impressed with (our) hitting,"said Hoffman Estates coach Lindsey Hamma. "Overall, it was a good day for us."
Kaitlin Walsh, who beat Lyons 4-2 earlier Saturday, held the Saints to 3 hits through 5 innings.
Despite the loss, Hamma was pleased with the Hawks' wins over Lyons and St. Ignatius heading into a busy week with five Mid-Suburban League games.
"We learned a lot of good things," Hamma said. "Some people had some success at the plate, boosted their confidence so we can carry this into next week. St. Charles persevered and came threw with a couple big hits. But we played really strong games against St. Ignatius and Lyons."