Lake Park takes two from Elgin, sweep Upstate Eight
Elgin put Lake Park pitcher Kelly Loy in two completely different situations Monday afternoon.
After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, Loy had the comfort of playing with a lead all game as Lake Park defeated host Elgin 12-0 in five innings.
Loy then took the circle down 3-2 in a game suspended from April 25. The Lancers used the momentum built from the first victory to squeeze out a 4-3 victory in the bottom of the seventh to sweep the Upstate Eight Conference softball games.
In the completion of the suspended game, Alexa Nelms nailed a one-out single and pinch runner Alyssa Robinson advanced to third on a wild pitch and a pickoff error. Chelsea Gieseke then recorded an RBI single to score Robinson tying the game at 3.
Vicki Tomaka, who had not played in the first game, then came through with a walk-off RBI single to give the Lancers a 4-3 victory and a sweep, although it was over 2 weeks late.
"We were all hitting in the first game," Loy said. "We're pretty good under pressure. We're all doing really good right now."
Elgin (5-16, 3-7) scored its only run of the day in the fifth inning when April Harwood blooped in an RBI single with two outs to record the first and only hit the Maroons would get on Monday.
"We didn't get the runners on base," Elgin coach Peg Corcoran said. "We did the first time. It started in that first game."
Lake Park had no problem swinging the bats. The Lancers (13-7, 8-3) scored 12 runs off 12 hits in the first five innings. During a stretch in the second inning, Kelly Mieszala (2-for-3, 4 runs), Carly Willert (3-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 runs) and Samantha Becker (2-for-3, 2 RBI) all smacked doubles to extend Lake Park's lead to 6-0.
The Lancers put up 3 runs in all but the third inning, notching a total of 5 doubles. Catcher Alexis Munaco went 2-for-4, scored twice and had an RBI double in the first and a 2-run single in the fourth, giving Lake Park a 9-0 lead.
Loy did the rest. Improving to 5-0 on the season, she forced Elgin into just a single ground out in the first five innings, while striking out 6 batters and allowing just 1 walk. In the suspended game, which Elgin was up in the top of the fifth with two outs, 2 batters reached base on errors, but she added another strikeout.
"(Loy) came in this season as our No. 2 pitcher," Lake Park coach David Mikrut said. "She does a great job keeping hitters off balance. The defense plays hard for her."