Defense carries Palatine past Warren
Nobody knocked a softball out of the park in Warren’s “Knock Cancer Out of the Park” game Saturday afternoon in gusty Gurnee.
But Warren and Palatine played out-of-this-world defense.
“Our best game defensively this year, by far,” Palatine coach Jeff Manz said after his Pirates needed only 5 hits to beat Warren’s Blue Devils 4-0 for their eighth straight victory.
“We stress aggressive defense, and you saw some examples of that.”
The best example: In the bottom of the fourth inning, with two outs and a Blue Devil on second base, Warren junior Lexi Leneau ripped a screaming single to right-center field. Palatine senior center fielder Joanne Jablonski fielded it cleanly and fired an Aroldis Chapman fastball to catcher Alyx Ballenger.
Ballenger applied the tag.
End of threat.
End of inning.
“That was a throw and a half!” an animated Manz yelled as his defense trotted happily toward the visiting dugout.
Palatine (11-2) had plated 3 runs in its half of the fourth inning, after Warren starter Marcee Olvera threw 3 perfect innings. The Pirates scored their final run in the fifth, when senior shortstop Katie Mnichowicz got m-nifty near home plate, twisting cleverly and slapping the dish deftly with her left hand – while sliding – to avoid a tag after a Ballenger grounder to second base.
But most of the talk afterward revolved around defense. Mnichowicz, only moments before Jablonski’s strike from the outfield, nailed a Blue Devil attempting to score on a ground ball to short. Pirates first baseman Lauren Logan slid, knees-first, to make an impressive second-inning grab in foul territory. And sophomore third baseman Tori Walzak squeezed a tough, backhanded short-hopper and threw to first for the final out of the game.
Sophomore shortstop Jill Fox stood out defensively for Warren (7-6). A member of the 14U national champion Warren Wave last summer, Fox sprinted forward to catch a sinking, curling liner in the third inning and doubled up a Pirate at first base after jumping to snare a line drive in the sixth.
“Jill has good hands, soft hands,” said Warren coach Carri McGahan. “We’d been working, as a team, on do-or-die defense in practice; we want our fielders to commit immediately, play aggressively.
“I also liked the way we came out and shut them down in the first three innings. Palatine has an excellent program, and Jeff does a fabulous job as a coach.”
As a pitcher, Palatine senior Danielle Boisvert was dandy in a complete game, allowing only 3 hits to improve to 9-1. The lefty fanned 2 and walked 3.
“She fell behind on some hitters, but she got a lot of groundball outs for us,” Manz said. “Our infield worked a lot today, stayed busy out there.”
Logan struck the biggest hit of the day, driving in a pair of runs with a fourth-inning double to left field. The Pirates’ previous three batters in the frame — Ballenger, Sam Salomone (2-for-3) and Jablonski (RBI) — had reached via a single.
“Our hits … we strung those together, and that was good.” Manz said. “We needed to do that. But our defense came through for us today. Came up big. That throw by Joanne was outstanding. She has a super-strong arm, sometimes too strong. Not today.
“That throw,” he added, “was perfect.”