Softball: Pauly wins 100th game at Vernon Hills
Allison Wade came through in a pinch Monday for Vernon Hills.
In the process, she helped coach Jan Pauly earn her 100th victory at the school.
The senior came on to pitch-hit for the Cougars in the 3rd inning with the score tied 1-1, the bases loaded, and two outs against visiting St. Viator.
"Ally, who is one of our catchers, hits fast pitching pretty well," said Pauly. "She's a contact hitter, and we try to play our offense on who's going to have the most success against a particular pitcher.
"Once we saw that the Viator pitcher was throwing pretty hard, we wanted to make that substitution right away. We thought we'd switch it up a little and put our contact hitters in there."
The move paid off, as Wade fought off several tough pitches, including just getting a piece of a possible strike-three fastball and fouling it off, before drawing a 3-2 walk to drive in a run.
That opened the floodgates as Vernon Hills went on to a 7-1 softball nonconference win.
"I thought it was a great opportunity for me," said Wade, a left-handed hitter. "I was really glad I was able to step in there and make something happen."
"I find that the best way (to step to the plate) in a situation like that is just go up there with no expectations, just go up hoping to hit the ball. I wanted to get a hit but I was able to get the walk."
Wade finished with two singles and two runs batted in, and teammates Kayla Lorenz and Amanda Teschky had a couple of rbi as well.
Viator started strong in the first inning on a double by third baseman Brooke Cwick and a run-scoring single from catcher Jillian Bollard, but were shut down the rest of the way.
"Vernon Hills is a good team, they hit the ball really well," said Lions coach John Scotillo. "We had a few bad breaks today, but that's a part of the game."
"We're a young team, we had four freshman and a sophomore on the field today, and I'm very happy with their progress so far. Our future is bright."
Teschky had a triple to the right field wall to drive in a run in the 3rd, then after Wade's timely at-bat, the Cougars plated two more runs on a single down the right field line by Lorenz.
Vernon Hills scored twice more in the 4th (rbi singles by Teschky and Wade), then added an insurance run in the 6th on an Amelia Vlahos double to the left-center fence.
Meanwhile, Cougars pitcher Morgan Hart was throwing a masterful game. The sophomore struck out five, didn't walk a batter, gave up just two hits and at one point retired nine batters in a row in the middle innings.
"She throws the ball hard, she's mentally strong on the mound and she doesn't get flustered," said Pauly, who has been coaching the Cougars since 2015.
"She just keeps firing and keeps coming back regardless of the situation, and we're excited about her future."