Glenbard East meets challenge

The losing streak had reached eight.

But it’s never too late.

“We had some big team meetings,” said Glenbard East softball coach Valerie Pinzker.

Thursday, things were great.

The Rams (3-8) got 3 quick runs in the first inning and never trailed in a 6-4 nonconference triumph at Rolling Meadows.

Junior pitcher Kara Tadda, who won the Rams’ first two games over Morton and Montini, also notched the team’s third win by tossing a 7-hitter with 7 strikeouts.

“We really had some good practices the last few days and came together as a team,” said Tadda, who is 3-4. “We had meetings and talked about the things we needed to do to win.”

The talking must have been right on because the Rams played solid most of the game.

Brittany Plimmer’s double to left brought home Alissa Mogavero and Danielle Murphy and an error led to another run that gave the Rams a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

An RBI single by Meadows’ Sam Anderson and an error on Lane Winkler’s ground ball cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the first.

“We worked really hard for this game,” Pinzker said. “We’ve been making six to seven errors a game so we cut that down (to 3 on Thursday). I’m very proud of what they did.”

Tadda’s groundout to third in the second inning scored Megan Cotterill for a 4-2 lead.

Mogavero played her leadoff role superbly, getting on base her first three times with 2 walks and a single.

Mogavero’s base hit to center brought home Elizabeth Hernandez (single) and Cotterill (walk) for a 6-2 lead in the top of the fourth.

After that single, Rolling Meadows relief pitcher Sara Brunlieb retired the final 12 Rams in order to close out the game.

However, Tadda did not let the Mustangs’ offense explode.

Meadows (7-4), trailing 6-4, made its biggest threat in the bottom of the seventh.

Senior Natalie Cannizzo led off with a single to center and starting pitcher Josie Suchecki (0-1) reached on an error.

After a fly out to centerfielder Catherine Priebe and popout to first baseman Mogavero, Chloe Prodanovic kept the Mustangs’ hopes alive with a single to center to load the bases.

But Tadda escaped with a flyout to Priebe, giving the Rams the key road victory.

“It was nerve-wracking because we had to make sure they didn’t score those runs at the end,” Tadda said. “But I have confidence in my team. If I give the batter something to hit, I know my defense will back me up.”

Meadows cut the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth when Winkler doubled down the left-field line to bring home Emily Hattory and Cannizzo (3-for-4 and reached base four times).

After Winkler’s double, Meadows had runners on second and third with one out.

But Tadda escaped further damage with a popup to third baseman Alyssa Byrne and fly out to left fielder Alyssa Haught.

“It was our defense,” Tadda said “We were not making errors and supporting each other.”

Suchecki pitched the first three innings for Meadows and faced three batters in the fourth before Brunlieb (5-3) took the mound. Suchecki, the Mustangs regular second baseman had not pitched all season and threw only about 20 innings last year.

Mustangs’ No. 2 pitcher Hannah Whidden (foot injury) was not available and coach Tony Wolanski didn’t want Brunlieb throwing all seven innings the day before a conference game with Palatine.

“I thought Josie did a great job,” Wolanski said. “She stepped up and wanted to throw. We made some defensive mistakes behind her that hurt.

“I thought we did a better job hitting this game than Wednesday (2-0 win over Hoffman Estates). But we still left a lot of runners on base.”