Leudo’s big day helps Cary-Grove down BG
Sarah Leudo took full advantage of the unseasonal warm temperatures Friday afternoon.
The Cary-Grove junior catcher came within a single from hitting for the cycle, crushing a 2-run homer over the center field fence in the fifth inning in leading the Trojans to a 6-0 win over Buffalo Grove in a nonconference softball game in Cary.
Leudo added a double and a triple in the win.
“On the home run, I just got a good pitch to hit and got it up in the wind,” said Leudo. “I thought it had a chance to go over the fence. It is nice to have such warm temperatures this early in the season. I felt good at the plate.”
Cary-Grove coach Tammy Olson was impressed by Leudo’s power.
“If the ball is going to be hit that high it better go over the 200-foot mark,” said the Cary-Grove coach. “She really hit the ball high and it had enough to go over the fence. She certainly has extra base power and it showed today.”
Senior third baseman Sara Markelonis also joined the extra base hit explosion for the Trojans (2-0) with a triple, a double, an RBI and 2 runs scored.
The Trojans, who collected 9 hits off Buffalo Grove freshman Julia Camardo, scored 2 runs in the first keyed by an RBI triple from Markelonis, 1 in the third on an RBI single by Jamie Deering and 3 in the fifth on a Leudo’s homer and an RBI single from Taylor Dunne.
Cary-Grove junior pitcher Lindsay Efflandt was solid, blanking the Bison on 5 singles. She struck out 4 without allowing a walk. The Trojan defense was flawless with no errors.
Buffalo Grove’s best chance to score came in the fourth. Julie Lazzara led off the inning with a single followed by a 1-out single by Amanda Salzman. Efflandt was able to work out of the inning without allowing a run. The second out of the inning came when Leudo threw out Salzman attempting to steal second. Efflandt got out of the jam when she struck out Camardo to end the inning.
“We were not ready to play and there is no excuse for that,” said Buffalo Grove coach Sarah Paul. “You can’t do that against a quality team like Cary-Grove. We are a young team and bottom line we didn’t make contact and move the runners when we had to. We didn’t manufacture runs.”