Ratliff, Burlington Central shut out Streamwood

With a stiff wind blowing in, runs were hard to come by on Rocket Hill, but Burlington Central scratched out enough to beat Streamwood, 4-0, in nonconference softball action Monday.

Sophomore Ashley Ratliff allowed just 3 hits while striking out 7 for the Rockets (5-5). The only Streamwood baserunner in the last four innings reached on an error.

"Her arm strength got better as she went along," said Central coach Kyle Molik of Ratliff. "She fixed her arm angle and was able to throw strikes."

Ratliff allowed 2 baserunners each in the third and fourth innings but was able to escape the jams both times. Then she settled down, retiring 15 of the last 16 batters.

Meanwhile, the Rockets' offense got Ratliff all the runs she needed in the first inning. Courtni Neubauer and Kassidy Gaylord drew walks sandwiched around a single by Emily Kisch. Neubauer came in on a wild pitch and Kisch scored moments later on Gretchen Schrubbe's infield out.

Central added single runs in the second and fifth innings on Kisch's sacrifice fly and Jill Neisendorf's RBI single, respectively.

Sabres' starter Jessica Daley settled down after the second inning. After walking 4 in the first 2 innings, she didn't allow another walk the rest of the way and gave up just the one fifth-inning run.

Becky Roncone, Melissa Malcolm and Emily Unthank delivered hits for Streamwood, but the Sabres couldn't come up with the clutch hit. But they did play errorless ball behind Daley.

"We either get the hits or we play defense," said Streamwood coach Kelly Wasilewski. "We need to do both to win games. We need to put them together."