Ploss a big plus as Antioch hangs on against Vernon Hills
A high flyball in the same vicinity was dropped for a costly error just two innings earlier.
And now, with darkness setting in, soggy grass to negotiate, the bases loaded and two out in the seventh, and the tying run at home plate, Antioch left fielder Jessica Ploss raced in toward a hard-hit ball off the bat of Vernon Hills' Nicole Wagner.
Ploss squeezed it.
"I was a little nervous," Ploss said after securing the Sequoits' 4-0 win over visiting Vernon Hills' in the softball teams' North Suburban Prairie Division opener Tuesday.
Only a sophomore, the 6-foot-1 Ploss is playing her third varsity sport this school year, and she's proving to be the real deal. Besides showing her unflappable side on Tuesday's final out, she went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI to help give Sequoits ace Olivia Duehr all the run support she needed in her complete-game 1-hitter.
While defending NSC champ Antioch played errorless ball in improving to 3-2, Vernon Hills fell to 3-7 with its sixth loss in a row. Sophomore Anya Mollenhauer had the Cougars' only hit.
"I have such a young team here," said coach Paul Weber, who started five sophomores and a freshman. "(Antioch) is good, though. They didn't make any mistakes and they hit the ball. They hit the ball when they needed to."
No player did that better than Ploss. She sprayed an opposite-field single into right field to score Lauren Moore in the second and then nudged a 2-run base hit into right again in the sixth, plating Moore (double) and courtesy runner Angela Barone (Amber Mysliwiec walk).
"I was happy I got some (hits) because the (last) game I wasn't hitting very well," Ploss said. "Luckily, they squeezed through."
Ploss, whose dad, John, played Big Ten basketball at the University of Wisconsin, has played travel softball for Antioch coach Jeff Tylka for three years.
"I've seen her hit off some Division I and Division II pitchers over the summer and not be overmatched," Tylka said. "She's a big, strong kid. She has the ability to hit the ball 250 feet and hit the ball (to right field)."
Volleyball is Ploss' main sport and the one she wants to play in college. After a strong basketball season, she's enjoying softball.
"I like it a lot," she said. "I've been playing since I was like 4 years old."
Sparked offensively by her teammates Ploss, Moore, Jessie Liszka (2-for-2, sacrifice bunt, stolen base) and Allie Anttila (triple, run scored), Duehr retired 13 straight batters before walking Paige Kahalnik and pinch-hitter Bridget Munoz to start the seventh.
Tylka then visited the circle.
"I walked out there and told the infield, basically, take the easiest out," Tylka said.
"She was trying to overthrow a little bit," he added of Duehr. "The wind picked up, and it had a little effect. It was kind of catching her pitches and just carrying them a little bit. She gets excited, and rightfully so. She was pitching well. We just wanted to calm her down a little bit."
Duehr also walked Lauren Yacullo in the seventh, but got 2 strikeouts (Nos. 8 and 9) and the well-hit flyball by Wagner to Ploss to end it.
Vernon Hills starting pitcher Megan Meline sprained her right wrist on a swing during the Cougars' Spring Break trip to southern Illinois and said she aggravated the injury during her first-inning at-bat Tuesday.
The right-hander played the rest of the game in pain before Weber pinch-hit Munoz for her in the seventh.
"(The wrist) is all swollen," said Meline, who allowed 3 earned runs in her 6 innings, striking out eight, walking one and hitting back-to-back batters in the second. "I tried sticking it out. There were a few pitches that maybe I could have made (better) if I was healthy. I know that sounds like an excuse. I'm just frustrated because (Antioch) is an amazing team."
The teams rematch today at Vernon Hills.