Staats, Benet beat Downers Grove South
Being from Downers Grove, Thursday’s game meant a little extra to Benet senior Allyson Staats.
She sure pitched like it.
Staats 4-hit a potent Downers Grove South lineup and also doubled to lead to a run in Benet’s 2-0 win in Lisle.
“To shut out a team like Downers Grove South is such a great thing, especially because I live in the Downers South district,” Staats said. “I’ve been wanting to beat this team since my freshman year.”
The game was a complete 180-degree turn from last year’s Benet-Downers Grove South matchup. In that game the Mustangs beat Staats 12-9.
She only struck out 1 batter on Thursday but induced 12 groundball outs. Only two outs left the infield, and only two runners reached second base.
This against a Downers Grove South team that was shut out only twice all of last season.
“You just have to keep the ball down, especially against a good-hitting team like Downers Grove South,” Staats said. “You have to keep the ball down or they’re going to hit some rockets off you.”
Benet coach Jerry Schilf has waited to see this kind of performance from Staats (3-2).
“That’s by far the best she’s pitched,” Schilf said. “She was changing speeds really good, moving it around, we came up with enough runs and we made the plays in the field. We didn’t buckle.”
Downers Grove South starter Alecia Bozek matched Staats much of the way, but the Redwings (4-2) did touch her for single runs in the second and third.
In the second Bozek walked the bases loaded with one out, and Ali Michalik drove in Julianne Rurka with a run-scoring groundout.
An inning later Staats doubled with one out, courtesy runner Tracy Griffin took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Mikayla Panko sacrifice fly.
Rurka, off to a red-hot start, later doubled twice.
Downers Grove South was playing its first game, and the rust showed at times. The Mustangs had three runners thrown out on the bases.
Most costly, with runners on first and second and one out in the fourth, Staats caught a pop fly by the mound and doubled off a runner at second.
“That should never happen,” Downers Grove South coach Ron Havelka said. “I don’t care if it’s the first game or the 50th game. No excuses.”
Mustangs leadoff hitter Marissa Mersch went 2-for-3, leaving her 3 shy of the school’s career hit record. But she was caught stealing by Kendall Duffy in the sixth, the last Downers Grove South baserunner.
“We gotta try to hit the ball better the next couple games, try to get back into it,” Havelka said. “You don’t hit, you don’t win. There were some positives, and you gotta go with them. Hopefully, we just get those sticks moving a little bit and we’ll be OK.”