Elgin’s Jennah Perryman handcuffs South Elgin
There’s no question that when they have their control, the Perryman sisters give Elgin’s softball team one of the best 1-2 pitching combos around.
Monday was the day for sophomore Jennah Perryman to prove just that.
Issuing just one walk, while striking out 11 and allowing just 3 hits, Jennah Perryman was in command from start to finish as the Maroons downed South Elgin 5-0 in an Upstate Eight Conference game at South Elgin.
Tuesday will be senior Hannah Perryman’s turn when the Maroons travel to Bartlett in another crossover game that counts in the UEC standings, as all crossovers in softball and baseball do.
“Every time she pitches I say it’s her best game but today she was really throwing hard, in and out, mixing it up and changing speeds,” said Elgin coach Chad Dahlman of Jennah Perryman, who verbally committed to Ball State over the weekend. “Today might have been her best yet.”
South Elgin would have a hard time arguing with that, despite the fact the Storm appeared somewhat lethargic after returning from 7 games in three days in Tennessee.
“Jennah Perryman single-handedly beat us today,” said South Elgin coach Jason Schaal, whose team lost its eighth straight. “She’s an excellent pitcher.”
No. 13 Elgin (6-2, 1-0) jumped on top with an unearned run in the second inning. An infield error on Jennah Perryman’s grounder opened the inning and after Caroline Sobeski sacrificed, Bri Wright’s single to right field brought home the only run the Maroons would need.
Elgin added a run in the fifth when Hannah Perryman (4-for-4) singled home Anna Eckholm (2-for-4), who led off with a single. Jennah Perryman singled and scored on Wright’s groundout in the fifth and the Maroons added two more in the seventh as Monica Stockman doubled in Eckholm and then scored on Kelly Bremer’s sacrifice fly.
“We’ve been stressing situational hitting and we did a good job in situations today,” Dahlman said.
Jennah Perryman didn’t allow South Elgin much of a chance to score. The Storm (2-10, 0-1) got a runner to second base in the first inning when sophomore Alyssa Buddle singled and junior Kara Rodriguez, Buddle’s courtesy runner, stole second with two outs but after hitting Sara Irving with a pitch, Jennah Perryman got a strikeout to end the threat.
The Storm had first and second with two outs in the sixth after Victoria Watt singled and Buddle drew a walk but Irving grounded to first to end the inning. Taylor Rees doubled with two outs in the seventh but Megan Librandt’s fly out to center ended the game.
“I was throwing a lot harder today than the past couple games,” said Jennah Perryman, now 3-1 for the season. “I felt like I had a lot more pop today and I was able to pitch with a lot of confidence. I controlled my pitches really well today. We had perfect team chemistry today. We all worked together to win.”
Dahlman pointed out that South Elgin run-ruled the Maroons last year and now his team has a date with another squad it’s had a tough time beating the past couple years — Bartlett.
“This is a good start to the week,” Dahlman said. “We’ve got seven games in six days and next up is Bartlett and it’s Hannah’s turn. We want to carry this over to that game.”
For South Elgin, it was another tough loss in a string of tough setbacks.
“Our biggest weakness right now has been our offense,” said Schaal, whose team, by the end of the week, will have played 10 games in six days. “We’ve had a couple of our regular bats out of the lineup with injuries but Victoria Watt is coming around and she had a hit today and we’ll get Kara back in the lineup soon. We have to get some hits together and we’re not doing that right now.
“We’re playing well but we’re not winning. We have to find a way to come out more focused and with more determination.”
Senior Sam Bolin (2-5) suffered the loss for the Storm. She struck out 3 and didn’t walk a batter in 6 innings.