Glenbard West defense does its part
Taylor Steinhilber pitched to her strength Friday.
Her defense.
The Glenbard West pitcher kept her friends on the softball field busy, and they did their part behind her, helping their ace shut down Lyons Twp. 1-0 on just 2 hits.
“I’m not really a forceful pitcher,” Steinhilber said. “I get more groundballs and flyballs. I’m not really one to strike a lot of people out. I really rely on the team to help me out, and I love them for it.”
Steinhilber (7-3) and Lions pitcher Alyssa Koziol each struck out two batters, and Koziol issued the game’s only walk.
“There weren’t that many strikeouts,” Lions coach Dawn Schabacker said. “The pitchers, I thought, did a really, really nice job of mixing it up. But our defense and their defense did a really nice job.”
“With Taylor hitting her spots and throwing strikes, that’s the type of pitchers we have,” added Hilltoppers coach Mary McGrane, whose team is 15-4, 5-2 in the West Suburban Silver. “We don’t have strikeout pitchers. It’s more keep the ball down and get a lot of groundball outs. When we hit our spots, they don’t hit the ball real hard.”
Steinhilber put the Lions (14-6, 3-3) down in order in the top of the first inning, needing just five pitches to get three outs, setting the tone for a game that last just more than an hour.
“She definitely set the momentum and the tempo of our game with three quick outs in the first inning, and then offensively putting that run on the board was good,” McGrane said.
The only run scored in the bottom of the first. With two out Steinhilber singled to left. Courtesy runner Julia Waggoner then scored on Jacklyn Tyburk’s double to right, Tyburk being thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
“I’m just really looking to produce in hitting for the team and getting runs in,” Steinhilber said, “Two outs is not really a big deal. I just go in there with the mental attitude that I need to get a hit and get runners into scoring position. And Julia, we’re a tag team. She’s always running for me, so I love her for that.”
Lyons Twp. tried to start a rally in the third inning when Skye Riddle reached with a single to left field. Becky Rykman followed with an apparent single to right, but right fielder Emily Rooney forced out Riddle at second base with her throw to shortstop Maddie Morris.
“Just huge, wasn’t it? It was great,” McGrane said. “Emily Rooney, it’s something where we always practice and talk about it and now it finally happens. I think that changed their momentum. It kind of put them to a halt, because it stopped whatever they had going.”
Steinhilber set down the last eight batters in order, ending the game with a strikeout on a changeup that had the Lions batter way out front.
“I’ll be honest, we needed this game,” McGrane said. “We needed this win. The past couple of games we’ve come out we’ve been flat, we haven’t been focused. Our intensity’s been really low, and it’s disappointing because I’ve seen these girls and how competitive and how great they can be.
“Today was something that we needed, just to kind of get us back on a roll.”