Prairie Ridge’s Stevens shuts down Jacobs
No, Kirsten Stevens didn’t drive the bus home from Algonquin to Crystal Lake.
The Prairie Ridge junior pitcher did enough with her arm and bat.
Retiring the final 12 hitters she faced, Stevens struck out 12 without allowing a walk in 7 innings of work. The hard throwing left-hander limited Jacobs to 1 run on 5 hits.
Stevens also wielded a hot bat with a 2-run homer and a 3-run double in leading the Wolves to a convincing 8-1 win over Jacobs in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division softball action in Algonquin Wednesday afternoon.
“All my pitches were working especially my drop and curve,” said Stevens. “I was hitting my spots consistently and felt in control. I have been struggling with the bat and hit the ball well all day. On the homer, it was high and in and I got all of it. I knew it was gone. We played well as a team today. It was a great team win. Everybody played well.”
PR coach Mike Buck was impressed with Stevens’ effort.
“She struggled early with her rhythm but when Kirsten settled down she was tough,” said Buck. “She finished strong. She has been really struggling at the plate. It was good to see her break out of her slump.”
The Golden Eagles (9-8, 1-3) actually struck first with a run in the third on an RBI Single by Nikki Chapa.
McKayla Lein, who blanked the Wolves (11-3-1, 4-0) for the first 3 innings, allowed a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Maddie Drain.
PR seized control of the game with a 4-run fifth. Stevens’ 3-run double along with an RBI single by Marissa Richter were the key hits in the inning.
PR added a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Alyssa Doomis and 2 in the seventh on Stevens’ 2 run homer.
Other than Stevens’ offensive outburst, PR, which collected 14 hits, got a 3-for-4 effort from Kate Didier and 2 hits each from Claire Bowman (2 runs scored) and Doomis. All 9 starters in the lineup collected at least 1 hit.
Kelsey Cummings’ double in the second was Jacobs’ lone extra-base hit in the game.
“We got some base runners early in the game, but couldn’t get the clutch and timely hits,” said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. “PR is a very good team. You have to score more than one run to beat them.”