Lisle defeats Westmont again
Bekka Houda wasn’t worried about Lisle facing Westmont for a third time this season.
Not when your pitching is this good.
Houda matched her season high with 15 strikeouts, tossing her ninth shutout of the year as Lisle beat Westmont 5-0 in Tuesday’s Class 2A Westmont regional semifinal.
“We do better when we know the teams,” Houda said, “because we know people’s weaknesses and what their strengths are.”
Top seed Lisle (24-4) moves on to Saturday’s regional championship, where the Lions will meet the Immaculate Conception-Timothy Christian winner. Lisle is 3-0 against those teams this season.
Lisle twice shut out Westmont during the Interstate Eight Conference season by scores of 10-0 and 5-0, two of the Lions’ 12 shutouts heading into Tuesday.
“Bekka was in complete control,” Lisle coach Jen Pomatto said. “Even when they got runners on, she came back and just kept firing. She’s been such a competitor this year. I can’t ask for anything more.”
Houda (17-2) made lucky number 13 look like a strong possibility early on. She struck out eight of the first nine batters she faced and was perfect through four innings until Stephanie Wolff doubled to lead off the fifth.
“We moved the ball around a lot; (catcher) Grace (Riley) made a lot of good calls,” Houda said. “We mix it up a lot and we never throw the same pitch two times in a row.”
Westmont’s best threat to score came in the sixth, when its first two batters reached on bunts trailing 2-0. Houda came back to get an infield pop-up and a pair of strikeouts.
“I know I have a good defense behind me,” Houda said. “I personally wasn’t too worried about it. We knew we could get out of it.”
Lisle freshman leadoff hitter Summer Stitt sparked the Lions’ first two scoring rallies. She singled to lead off the first and eventually came around to score on Mackenzie Buchelt’s bloop single to center.
Stitt hit a sinking flyball off the right fielder’s glove for a triple to start the fifth and beat the throw home on Melanie Early’s grounder.
Nothing new for Stitt, whose on-base percentage hovered near .700 for much of the season.
“I just have to stay confident and know that I’m capable of being able to hit,” Stitt said. “It’s been a great year; the girls have been very welcoming and I’ve fit in well.”
Lisle broke open a close game in the sixth with 3 runs, Tori Harris doubling in a pair and scoring on a Shelby Kretman double.
Houda is hopeful that Tuesday was the first win in a long playoff run for Lisle, who has advanced to the supersectional the last two years.
“I want to go further,” Houda said. “I know we can do it. We have basically the same team as the last two years. It’s a matter of executing it.”