Rock Valley lives up to its ranking against Harper

Beating the top-ranked softball team in the country has been a diffcult task for North Central Community College Conference teams this season.

One of them, an undermanned Harper College squad, met up with that top-ranked Rock Valley College team on Thursday.

The hoped-for upset didn't happen as the Hawks fell 19-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Rock Valley improved to an amazing 40-5. Host Harper fell to 7-11.

The Golden Eagles' sheer numbers and skill made it a challenging afternoon for the Hawks.

"They are very deep," said Hawks coach Cray Allen.

Rock Valley outfielder Abby Kissack collected 4 hits and drove in 4 runs. Four Golden Eagle had 2 or more hits.

But it was not the RVC offense that impressed Allen most - it was pitcher Morgan Adolph, who had a pair of hitless shutout innings.

"It took our bats a couple innings to adjust to it," Allen said. "You can't wait until innings three and four to make adgustments against (Rock Valley)."

One player able to adapt was Raegan Fingerman. The Barrington product, hitting .455 this spring, hit safely. She has 25 hits in 65 plate appearances. Jamie Haze (Palatine) and Sam Cunningham also had hits for Harper.

Allen said he was pleased with the way Sara Markelonis, normally a middle infielder who is hitting .429, pitched. Markelonis threw 140 pitches.