Softball: Quick lead holds up for Vernon Hills in win over St. Viator
Vernon Hills cleanup hitter Abby Krok says she just goes up to the plate looking for a hit.
"I want to get the runners home," said the Cougars' sophomore first baseman.
"Like she says, she is not swinging for the fences," said Vernon Hills coach Jan Pauly.
Perhaps for the scoreboard?
Krok gave her Cougars a quick 3-0 lead on Wednesday with a 3-run blast off the scoreboard which hovers high above the left-field fence at St. Viator.
Vernon Hills never trailed en route to a 6-4 nonconference softball triumph in Arlington Heights.
"It's hard to beat that 3-run homer in the first inning but our kids came back," said Lions coach John Scotillo.
"I'm just trying to get a hit," said Krok, whose towering shot is one of only three Scotillo recalls in his five years as the Viator coach to bounce off the big scoreboard.
The only Lion to do it was Mary Naughton, a senior who was away on retreat and not available Wednesday. Naughton, coincidentally, also did it as a sophomore.
Krok now has 7 homers for the young Cougars (15-16), whose roster does not include a senior.
Pauly used Jenna Posluns for the first four innings on the mound while Amelia Vlahos went the final three.
"Jenna has been on the varsity just a few days," Pauly said. "She throws the ball well. She has some movement and she is doing a nice job for us here at the end of the season."
Posluns left the game with a 6-0 lead as the Cougars punched across another 3 runs in the top of the fourth, thanks to catcher Sara Johnson's 2-out RBI single to right-center followed by MacKenzie Barberis' 2-run opposite field double down the left-field line that scored Allison Wade (2-for-3) and pinch runner Morgan Hart.
Viator had a chance to score in the bottom of the first with a runner on third and one out. But third baseman Barberis fielded a grounder and threw home to Johnson to get the runner.
"It was a fun game with both sides making nice defensive plays," Scotillo said.
Lions shortstop Allison Ardito made a nice backpedaling grab in shallow center field and then pivoted and threw a perfect strike to catcher Jillian Bollard to get the runner who had tagged at third base. The big double play ended the top of the third.
Viator scored a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Kelly Ferguson (2-for-3) doubled home Gianna Saverino (2-for-3), who had just singled in Brooke Zwick (2-for-3). Zwick and Bollard added RBI doubles in the fifth.
Saverino went all 7 innings on the mound.
"We pitched out of a few jams," said Scotillo, whose No. 11 seeded team (6-15) will open the Class 3A Vernon Hills regional next Wednesday against the host and No. 6 Cougars.
"It's a week away so we'll be ready," Scotillo said. "You can see our young players coming together nicely. Suzanne Klopp (first baseman who had a hit) is a sophomore, Jillian is a freshman, our third baseman (Zwick) is a sophomore and we have a freshman (Ferguson) in center. I'm really looking forward to the future."
Barberis and Emma O'Flaherty each went 2-for-4 for Vernon Hills, which also received a hit from Juliana Gudmundson.
"We came out swinging the bats really well and it's always good when we can do that because it puts pressure on the pitcher," Pauly said. "It's always good to win, play with some purpose and make a statement. St. Viator is a good team and I know that they play a very tough schedule. The season starts now and that's kind of how our philosophy is. That's how it is for every team. So you can't look back. The season started today and we go from here."