Lake Park edges Neuqua Valley
Tara Palandri knows she has the green light from her coach to go on the bases.
She wasn’t about to stop Friday.
Palandri scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, capping a two-run Lake Park rally in the top of the seventh inning for a pivotal 3-2 win over Neuqua Valley in Naperville.
“By the time coach tells me to go it’s too late,” Palandri said. “You just have to kind of read it and don’t hesitate. If you hesitate, you’re done.”
Palandri, who was 2-for-4, scored No. 19 Lake Park’s first run in the first inning, coming in from third base on the catcher’s throw to first on a dropped third strike.
Lake Park coach Tom Mazzie recently encouraged Palandri to be more aggressive on the bases. She stole 3 bases against Metea Valley on Monday.
“When she makes the decision to go, she’s there in a second,” said Mazzie, adding “nobody’s faster” than Palandri. “My girls know it’s never on me. It’s always on them, and as long as they’re aggressive I’ll live with any baserunning decision they make.”
Lake Park (20-8, 13-3 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division) led 1-0 into the sixth, then watched No. 17 Neuqua (12-7, 8-6) surge ahead with 2 runs. Stephanie Aronson singled to lead off the Lancers seventh, moved to second on a sacrifice, and Palandri bounced a single into right field, taking second on the throw.
Lake Park tied it on Kelly O’Neill’s fielder’s choice, and Palandri came in on the wild pitch.
The win is the 18th in 20 games for Lake Park, which holds a 1½ game lead on Bartlett in the UEC Valley race.
“You don’t win 18 out of 20 without coming back on people,” Mazzie said.
Palandri was hitting leadoff for the first time this season. Lancers sophomore Shannon Fritsche, who led off in Lake Park’s first 27 games, injured her thumb against Waubonsie Valley on Thursday and didn’t play.
“It was so weird (hitting leadoff),” Palandri said. I asked coach, ‘Should I take pitches like a leadoff hitter, and he just told me, ‘No, do (what you do).’”
For much of the game, Lake Park pitcher Marilyn Perry and Neuqua’s Jena Boudreau held down a pair of good-hitting lineups.
Perry worked into the fifth inning before giving way to Lisa Baumgart, allowing just 2 hits and a pair of balls out of the infield while striking out two.
Boudreau was called for six illegal pitches but kept her poise in scattering 7 hits, 3 walks and a hit batter, striking out six.
Neuqua left the bases loaded in the fifth off Baumgart, but in the sixth Leigh Nebendal lined a one-out double and scored on Brooke Meyer’s triple into the right-field corner.
Meyer scored on a fielder’s choice, but Neuqua stranded 2 more runners in scoring position. Kat Widup singled leading off the Wildcats seventh and took second on a sacrifice but was left there.
“Something we’ve struggled with lately is getting runners on base early in the game. Same thing today,” Neuqua coach Melissa Wilson said. “The sixth inning was great to watch, but it wasn’t enough. Everyone’s hitting in our league. You can’t just score 2 runs and expect to win.”