Plan B, Hohman lift Waubonsie over Elgin
After her team’s first eight outs were by strikeout Tuesday, Waubonsie Valley softball coach Aly Kelley had seen enough.
It was time for Plan B.
Kelley was well aware Elgin senior Hannah Perryman had struck out 39 batters in two games at the Prairie Ridge tournament on Saturday. So after Perryman struck out Waubonsie’s 8-9 hitters in the third inning with Courtney Hicks at first base after a leadoff walk, and leadoff hitter Amanda Lack singled up the middle, Kelley figured it was time for some small ball.
The Warriors’ hitters proceeded to get their bunts and slaps down, Elgin’s defense didn’t respond, and No. 17 Waubonsie Valley rode the short game and the right arm of freshman Shannon Hohman to a 5-1 Upstate Eight Conference win at No. 13 Elgin.
“We couldn’t hit. We never use a machine and (Monday) I brought it in and cranked it up to 65. We did high hitting off the tee. We told everybody to lay off the riseball and we couldn’t do it,” Kelley said. “So we went to Plan B. We’ve been working on our short game and it worked today.”
And how. Melaina Koulos extended the third inning by beating out a bunt single to load the bases. Amanda Minahan then dropped down a bunt and beat it out to score Hicks and tie the game at 1-1. A wild pitch scored Lack and gave the Warriors (8-2, 3-0) the lead for good.
While Waubonsie tacked on 3 unearned runs later in the game, again using the short game to help create three Elgin throwing errors, the 2-1 lead was all Hohman (6-1) needed. She struck out 14, walked only 2 and allowed Elgin 4 hits, all singles.
“We’re both new to each other so we’re still getting on the same page,” said Hohman of she and Kelley, a former Waubonsie Valley and St. Xavier University catcher. “We’re working together and it’s getting better all the time.”
“We’re mainly trying to figure out a good sequence and what pitches to call,” said Kelley, whose team has won 6 in a row. “Shannon’s a freshman, and a good one, and she and I are getting more on the same page all the time.”
Hohman was also well aware of Perryman’s weekend and knowing Perryman well from the summer travel ball circuit, Hohman admitted she had a little extra adrenaline to do well Tuesday.
“Knowing the opponent, you always have more of a desire to beat them,” Hohman said. “But it’s also a conference game and now we’re 3-0. We wanted that more than anything.”
Elgin (8-7, 1-3) took a short-lived 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Kelly Bremer reached on an error and scored on Lisette Sanchez’s one-out single. The Maroons only got one other runner to third base the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, Waubonsie Valley padded its lead in the fifth, scoring 2 unearned runs on four straight bunts that resulted in two Elgin throwing errors. No. 9 hitter Jessica Sarch led off the inning with a bunt single and took second on a throwing error. That was followed by a bunt single from Lack that resulted in another throwing error, allowing Sarch to score. After Koulos laid down a sacrifice bunt, Minahan did the same to score Lack and give the Warriors a 4-1 lead. They added their final run in the sixth when Elgin couldn’t handle Haylie Wensel’s bunt to lead off the inning. She took second on a passed ball, third when Elgin couldn’t handle a pop up by Lack and then scored on a wild pitch.
Perryman, who had 2 of Elgin’s 4 hits, struck out 12 and walked 1 while allowing 5 hits in falling to 6-4 for the season.
“They outplayed us,” said Elgin coach Chad Dahlman of the Warriors. “They put the ball in play and we didn’t make the plays. I know we just saw (Cary-Grove’s Lindsay) Efflandt and she’s very good but (Hohman) is the best pitcher we’ve faced this year. She throws hard and she hits her spots. And she’s just a freshman.”