Geneva can't slow Raiders' speed game

Geneva knew what was coming Thursday, only Glenbard South did it so well the Vikings couldn't do anything to stop it.

The Raiders played their aggressive style of softball to perfection, putting pressure on Geneva's defense from the first inning to the last in their 6-1 victory.

Glenbard South (10-12, 3-2) had 8 hits in the game, all singles, and every time the Raiders got on it wasn't long before Geneva (13-12, 5-4) was trying to make a play on a bunt or steal attempt. The teams played through a steady drizzle for the first four innings before it cleared up for the final three.

"It's not like there is any mystery to it, they have done the same thing for years," Geneva coach Greg Dierks said. "They are going to run the bases until you do something to make them stop. We still haven't done it yet. We are going to play them Monday and they are going to do the same thing to us until we can prove we can slow them down."

Lauren Podgorski got the Raiders going, leading off the first, third and fifth innings by getting on base, and each time she scored.

She also was extremely aggressive at the plate, seeing just 5 pitches in her 4 at-bats.

"We kind of go as she goes," Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda said. "She's been really steady for us. She had a great game."

Podgorski singled in the first, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Jenny Wittenberg's single up the middle off Kristyn Ruitenberg.

Podgorski singled again in the third, stole second, moved to third on Brianna Meath's sacrifice bunt and scored on Wittenberg's sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.

"Leadoff is obviously a big role and I just try to get on base every time," Podgorski said. "Either poke it through or hit a grounder and try to get on with my speed."

Glenbard South broke the game open with a 4-run fifth inning. Podgorski hit a rocket that Geneva couldn't come up with. Danielle Chitkowski's single brought her in, then Amanda Fazzari singled home another run before Geneva miscues led to the Raiders' fifth and sixth runs.

"This was a rough one to take," Dierks said. "Right from the get-go they imposed themselves on us. They did things to us and did what they wanted to do and defensively we didn't do what we needed to do to stop them."

Raiders stater Jess Wilkes was working on a 2-hit shutout until Melissa Barber blasted a home run to left field with two outs in the seventh. It was Barber's second homer of the season, fifth of her career - and first at home.

Nikki Davis and Dori Rogers had Geneva's only other hits. Wikes struck out four and walked none.

"We certainly didn't hit many balls hard," Dierks said.

With just five Western Sun games completed, the defending champion Raiders are ready for a busy stretch, with conference games next week against Geneva, Yorkville, Rochelle, Kaneland and Sycamore.

"It's been really weird," Podgorski said. "We haven't even played our first round of conference games. We're looking forward to it. The rest of May is just conference games."