Young IC Catholic pulls away from Fenton
With seven underclassmen in the lineup Tuesday, the future is bright for the IC Catholic softball team.
The present looks pretty good too.
Behind a strong outing from Kayla Faber-Cournane and an offense that cranked out 16 hits, the Knights pulled away to a 13-2 win over Fenton in the Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division matchup in Bensenville.
Cournane tossed a complete game, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 5 for IC (6-3). She was also helped out by a defense that committed no errors.
"It was a good win," Faber-Cournane said. "I have a great team behind me, I couldn't ask for a better one. Everyone stepped up."
Leading the offensive charge was the lone senior in the batting order, leadoff hitter Kaitlyn Falduto. She went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI.
Leading 4-2 in the sixth, Falduto doubled and came around to score on an error. Junior Josie Lytton followed with an RBI triple and would cross the plate on a groundout.
In the seventh the Knights scored six more runs on seven hits, with freshman Daniela Murillo supplying an RBI triple and Falduto, Lytton and fellow freshman Allesandra Eccardt all driving in runs with singles.
"Our younger players are really stepping up," Falduto said. "I love being one of the leaders. You can tell they look up to the seniors and the captains. They feed off us."
Fenton (1-8), which won its first game of the spring on Monday, pushed across a single run in the first on a sacrifice fly by Jenna Geraci, who later doubled in Keila Lozada in the fifth.
Second baseman Payton Pugliese had a pair of line drive singles to left and shortstop Isa Lozada made several strong plays in the field.
"Those are two sophomores and we are very excited about both of them," said Fenton coach Dave Mello, whose team could get back starting third baseman Rose Riley back soon. "I told the girls, the reality is it was a 13-2 game because that's what the final score says. But for five-plus innings, it was a 4-2 game. We are showing signs."