Hall, Petersen spark Metea Valley past Elgin
Metea Valley sophomore Jenna Hall was in an unenviable position on a blustery day in Elgin.
Mustangs’ starter Stephanie Bova had a rough outing, and Metea coach Kris Kalivas decided to go to Hall with one out in the bottom of the first inning, the game tied 3-3 and Elgin with the bases loaded.
And Hall was up to the challenge, getting a called third strike for the second out and an infield ground ball for the third out, then allowing Elgin just 1 run the rest of the way as Metea Valley remained undefeated for the season with a 6-4 Upstate Eight Conference win.
“Our pitching coach (Val Wood) always tells us to make sure we’re ready when we’re not starting and for instances like today it helps to be ready,” Hall said.
Hall allowed Elgin just 6 hits in her 6 innings. She only struck out two, but she didn’t walk anyone and the Mustangs (4-0, 2-0) played errorless defense behind her.
“My fielders are amazing and they’re always behind me, even if I’m not striking people out,” Hall said. “We have great talent on this team.”
Fielding was No. 13 Elgin’s downfall. The Maroons (6-4, 1-2), who lost for the second straight day, committed 4 errors with only one of Metea’s runs being earned.
“They’re a great hitting team,” said Elgin coach Chad Dahlman of Metea. “They came out swinging the bats and we didn’t make the plays.”
Metea Valley put the pressure on Elgin’s defense from the get-go and the Maroons failed to respond. An infield error on Alise Perna’s grounder to open the game also opened the floodgates for the Mustangs to take a 3-0 lead. Alyssa Coletto beat out a bunt and Kim Baker’s shot up the middle scored Perna with the first run. After a walk to Anna Petersen, Sara Knox drove in Coletto with a groundout and Baker came home on Lori Obendorf’s infield single.
Elgin bounced back, though, and used 2 walks and Metea’s only error to fuel a game-tying rally in the bottom of the first. Bri Wright drove in a run with a fielder’s choice and Lissette Sanchez drew a bases-loaded walk, which prompted Kalivas to go to Hall.
The teams traded runs in the second inning for a 4-4 tie. Emily Baker tripled to lead off the inning for the Mustangs and scored on Perna’s sacrifice fly. Jennah Perryman’s triple drove in Anna Eckholm (3-for-3), who had doubled, for Elgin.
While Hall (1-0, 1 save) was settling in, allowing the Maroons just 4 singles after the second inning, In the top of the fourth, Metea used 2 Elgin errors and a big 2-run single from Peterson, who also had the game-winning hit for the Mustangs on Saturday, to take a lead they didn’t give away.
Perna led off the inning with a single and went to second when Elgin booted a grounder off the bat of Coletto. A fielder’s choice grounder from Kim Baker put runners at first and third and Baker went to second on the first pitch without a play. Petersen (2-for-2, 2 walks) then delivered a shot straight up the middle to score both runners and give the Mustangs a 6-4 advantage.
“Anna’s off to a great start to the season,” Kalivas said. “She’s a gamer and she wants to succeed for her teammates.”
Hall did not allow an Elgin runner past second base after the second inning.
“Jenna did a great job of pitching and fielding her position today,” said Kalivas. “She came in and kept her composure and got us out of a jam.”
Kalivas was also pleased with her team’s defensive effort.
“We’ve been hot and cold defensively but fortunately we’ve been able to make the big plays when we needed them,” she said.
Sophomore Jennah Perryman (3-2) took the loss for Elgin, going 3 innings, allowing 7 hits with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks. Senior Hannah Perryman came on to finish, striking out 4, walking 1 and allowing just 1 hit over the final 3 innings.
“Jennah came out of the game with a little bit of a sore arm and Hannah came in and did a nice job,” said Dahlman. “(Hall) did a nice job. She kept us off balance and mixed it up. But we didn’t make the plays we needed to make.”