Plainfield Central tops St. Viator

Yes, there was softball on Thursday.

Thanks to director Jim Goranson’s 2011 Indoor Spring Jamboree at the Schaumburg Sports Complex, St. Viator and Plainfield Central were able to play the sport on a day when outside temperatures were better suited for ice hockey.

Plainfield Central warmed up to the environment quite well, scoring 5 runs in the top of the first and pulling away to a five-inning 15-2 victory over the Lions.

“St. Viator is nice team,” said Wildcats coach Anne Campbell, whose team was 23-8 last year. “We just hit the ball very well. We did the same all last season so I was glad to see it happening again for our first game this season.”

The Lions hit the ball pretty well, too, with pitcher Julie Sweeney and first baseman Kristen Cozzi leading the way with 2 hits apiece.

“And I even liked the way Michelle Presslak, Sam Hogan and Allyson Joyce hit some nice line drives (that were caught for outs),” said Lions coach Dan Twarog, whose team is 0-2 including a 6-5 loss at Palatine last week. “We’re a young team (freshmen Tess Kaiser, Gina Mastrodomenico and Sam Hogan started in the Lions’ outfield on Thursday. At the start of the game, we showed a lot of nerves.”

The veteran Sweeney (2-for-3), though, wasn’t nervous in her first at bat, clubbing a 2-run homer to right center field after Kelly O’Brien drew a one-out walk.

“The only difference from playing outdoor was the fielding.” said Sweeney, who is 5-for-7 on the season with 2 home runs. “There are some higher bounces (with the artificial surface). But hitting is universal. It’s always the same indoors our outdoors. ”

Cozzi (2-for-2) agreed about the surface.

“It’s different, we weren’t expecting the big hops,” she said. “But the surface is made of ground-up tire and you get some high hops that we did not play well. But it’s the same for both teams. They (Plainfield Central) had to play indoors, too.

“We’re a fairly new team. Once we get the errors (six) out of our system, we’ll be OK for conference.”

Senior Jaclyn Koziol also had an infield hit for the Lions, who play again indoors on Saturday at 9 a.m. against Fenton.

Plainfield Central (1-0) finished with 2 home runs (Rachel Egly and Morgan Vogt) and ended the game by scoring 8 runs in the top of the eighth, taking advantage of 6 hits, 3 errors and 1 walk.

The Wildcats played indoors last season when Goranson hosted the Jamboree at the McCook Sports Complex.

“I liked this much better,” Campbell said. “It’s much bigger. We kept hitting the ball off the ceiling (rules allowed you to catch it for an out) last year. This ceiling is much higher. It’s a much nicer facility for softball.”