Softball: Elgin falls to Crystal Lake Central
It was a rough day for the Elgin girls softball team.
Arriving late and causing a 50-minute delay to the start of the game, the Maroons never recovered in dropping a 17-0 five-inning decision to Crystal Lake Central in nonconference action in Crystal Lake Thursday afternoon.
"It was a tough day for our team and hopefully we can learn from this experience," said Elgin coach Jenna Szabo. "We have plenty of things and kinks to work out. Crystal Lake, like our first opponent DeKalb, is a very good team. I just need to be patient. There is plenty of season left."
The Tigers (3-0) benefitted from 14 walks from Elgin (0-2) pitchers Kacy Perfors and Abigail Sensor.
"I like our patience at the plate," said Central coach Brian Strombon. "We were selective and took the walks. We swung at good pitches and hit the ball hard. It was a good home opener. I like the way our kids handled the adversity of the late start. It was a great effort by the kids. We are off to a very good start to begin the season."
The Tigers started fast in scoring 5 runs in the first inning. Aided by 6 walks, the key hit was a 2-run single by Hailey Geske, who was the winning pitcher.
The Tigers put the game away with 9 runs in the second inning.
With 16 batters coming to the plate in the inning, Geske, 3-for-4 on the day, drove in 2 runs with a double while Ellie Berg provided a 2-run single and Kenna Kessler had a run-scoring single.
Central scored 2 in the third on a 2-run inside-the-park homer by Kyleigh Kessler and added 1 in the fourth on a run-scoring triple by Berg.
Geske retired the first six Maroons she faced including 4 strikeouts, before yielding her first hit of the game as Rayanne Schubert led off the third with a single to right field.
Perfors singled with one out in the fourth for Elgin's second hit of the game.
Geske, in 5 innings of work, struck out 6 without allowing a walk. Central's defense was flawless and didn't commit an error behind the Tiger junior hurler who limited the Maroons to 2 singles.
"Hailey was great and had great command of all her pitches," said Strombon. "She didn't walk anybody. She pitched smart and kept her focus despite how lopsided the score was."
Szabo liked the way her team swung the bats the last three innings.
"We have faced very good pitching the first two games," said Szabo. "We weren't aggressive at the plate early in the game. We ended the game with good swings and approaches at the plate. We hit the ball much harder the last three innings."