Perryman’s no-hitter, home run lift Elgin

Elgin senior Hannah Perryman is happy the softball season has begun.

After the performance Perryman and her teammates put on Thursday there is plenty to excited about.

Perryman threw a five-inning no-hitter and hit a game-ending 3-run home run as the Maroons opened the season with a 12-0 home victory over Hoffman Estates.

“That was a nice start. That wasn’t just me. That was a whole team effort,” Perryman said. “Everybody put a little thing into it.”

Perryman struck out 14. The only non-strikeout was a groundout to shortstop Bri Wright to end the top of the fourth. Perryman walked three consecutive batters in the second, but struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

Elgin had 12 hits, coming from seven different players. Anna Eckholm, who went 3-for-4, scored on a Jennah Perryman single in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead. Rachel Roth drove in Wright and Kenyatta Scales in the second with 1 of her 2 hits. Kelly Bremer drove in two with a double in the fourth. Jennah Perryman added a run-scoring triple and scored on an error in the 4-run fourth to increase the Elgin lead to 7-0.

“For being the first game, we executed,” Elgin coach Chad Dahlman said. “Up and down the lineup we put the ball in play.”

In the bottom of the fifth, Scales led off with her second bunt single. Kendra Johnson reached on one of the Hawks’ 6 errors. Eckholm drove home Scales with a double and Johnson scored on another error to make it 9-0. Hannah Perryman, the Missouri-St. Louis recruit who led the area with 9 home runs last season, was 0-for-3 with two pop outs before hitting the game-ending 3-run home run to left-center.

“I was not happy at all,” Hannah Perryman said of her plate appearances before the home run. “That picked me up.”

Freshman Charlotte Allan started in the circle for Hoffman Estates, which was also playing its first game of the season. Allan gave up 12 hits and allowed 12 runs, 9 earned. She walked one and struck out two.

“She’s a freshman walking out there in the first game as our starter. I was real proud of her,” Hawks coach Lindsay Hamma said. “She maintained her composure throughout. She’s always looking to learn.”