Softball: Carmel speaks up, but Nazareth sweeps

The cheers from Carmel Catholic's softball dugout nearly drowned out Corsairs coach Shane Schueneman.

Nearly.

"I was confused, at first," Carmel sophomore Jordan Swiatkowski said. "I was like, 'Why is he yelling?' "

Swiatkowski had just hit a 3-run homer in the top of the fourth inning off Nazareth starting pitcher Krystal Levitske, tying the score at 6-6. But as Swiatkowski rounded third base, Schueneman, coaching at third, had heated words with the home-plate umpire. Seconds later, Schueneman was ejected from the game.

It was a "carry-over," said Schueneman, who was frustrated with a couple of previous calls, including an out at first base three batters before Swiatkowski stepped to the plate. He let the two umpires know it as Swiatkowski trotted around the bases.

"It was my mistake," Schueneman said. "Heat of the moment. It happens.

"First game I've ever been thrown out of."

It was that kind of Saturday for host Carmel. Nazareth rallied in both games of the East Suburban Catholic Conference doubleheader in Mundelein, winning the opener 13-4 and taking the second game 9-6, despite Swiatkowski's game-tying homer.

Schueneman had no regrets after the sweep dropped his Corsairs to 17-9 and 3-3 in the ESCC.

"I'm going to protect my kids," he said. "I'm glad they battled back and they kept their composure."

"It's obvious he cares," Carmel senior Flynn Johnson, who was 4-for-6 on the day, said of her coach. "Usually he's a little more mild-mannered than that. It was one of those days."

Schueneman's frustration was also a "carry-over" from Game 1, he said. Lauren Caffarelli's second-inning RBI double and Emy Krysa's run-scoring single helped the Corsairs build a 4-0 lead. But Nazareth (18-6-1, 5-1) scored 6 runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth, highlighted by C.J. Mardirosian's 2-run homer off starter Marla Walinski.

Carmel never recovered, as the Roadrunners scored the game's final 13 runs. The Game-1 winners pounded out 14 hits, including three apiece by winning pitcher Devyn Zuro and Levitske.

"We lost that first game because of execution and momentum," Schueneman said. "We get a 4-0 lead but we had (other) opportunities. We didn't get three bunts down. We could have been up 5-, 6- or 7-0. That puts a little more pressure on (Nazareth). We don't score, then a couple of bad things happen, and they get the momentum."

Carmel, the designated visiting team in Game 2, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks in part to Johnson's 2-run double, but the lead was short-lived. Nazareth went ahead in the third, as Julia Dallmann hit a grand slam off starter Sydney Schuda. Swiatkowski's homer erased the 6-3 deficit, but Jeanine Mantooth's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth gave the lead back to Nazareth, which added two more runs in the fifth.

Gloria Corona and Taylor Gibson each had 3 hits in the Game-2 win.

"What I love about this team is that they don't give up when they get down," Nazareth coach Emily Matthews said. "We knew, with our sticks and our defense and our pitching, that we could eventually take care of it. It took us a little while to get started, and then once we did, we were able to do a good job."

For Carmel, Jen Giesey was 2-for-2 with a double and walk, and Johnson went 3-for-4. In Game 1, the Corsairs got 2 hits apiece from Walinski, Krysa and Caffarelli.

"We had a couple of good plays, good hits, and then we had a couple not-so-good plays," Swiatkowski said.

"A few things didn't go our way," Johnson said. "But for the most part we tried to stick together through all the craziness."