Softball: Kozlovsky’s arm, bat too much for Wheaton North
It was a terrific day in the circle and at the plate for Glenbard North pitcher Lauren Kozlovsky against visiting Wheaton North in Carol Stream.
The sophomore hurler shut down the Falcons Wednesday until late in the game, and she went 4-for-4 with two doubles as a hitter.
The great performance by Kozlovsky led the Panthers to a 6-4 victory in an important DuKane Conference matchup.
“Lauren did an amazing job,” said Glenbard North coach Josh Sanew. “She’s been locked in at the plate for awhile, always hitting the ball hard. She hit four shots today.”
Wheaton North, which suffered only its third loss of the season against 15 wins, rallied late but couldn’t come all the way back.
"We definitely did not play against a good team the way we should have played," said Falcons coach Allie Ravanesi.
"We didn't take advantage of our opportunities, and they took advantage of theirs. I told our kids that Glenbard North is a very good team. They're going to hang around, and if we don't capitalize, they will.
"Today just wasn't our day."
Glenbard North scored twice in the bottom of the first on RBI by sophomore Gia Whelan and junior Alexis Frcek.
The Panthers added on in the middle innings, hitting three home runs.
The round-trippers came from Maddie Woitas, Whelan and Tru Medina, the latter a 2-run shot.
“We’re always looking out for Wheaton North,” said Panthers senior left fielder Brigid Rogers, “because it’s a close game every year.”
Glenbard North (8-7, 3-3) took a 6-1 advantage into the top of the seventh, but Wheaton North (15-3, 5-1) battled back.
The Falcons loaded the bases, and closed to 6-4 after an RBI groundout from Ava Hartnett and a 2-run single by Reagan Crosthwaite.
Then with 2 outs and a runner on first, Erin Metz singled to left.
The ball bounced off the glove of Rogers, but she quickly recovered and fired the ball to shortstop Medina.
Medina, with the Wheaton North runner trying to score all the way from first, threw a one-hop strike to catcher Ava Kozlovsky.
Kozlovsky made the tag for the final out to preserve the 6-4 win.
“We like to make that last inning exciting,” joked Sanew. “That final play added a little gray hair to my head.”
“She (Rogers) did the proper thing and hit the cutoff person (Medina) who made a good throw to the plate.”
“Good sweep (tag) by the catcher, and it ended up being a good play all around. Not the way we drew it up, but we were happy to hang on and get a win over one of the top teams in the state.”
Frcek had three singles for Glenbard North, which banged out 13 hits in the contest.
After the game, Lauren Kozlovsky gave well-deserved props to her teammates and their stellar effort in the field.
Especially on the final play that secured the win.
“The throws were great,” she said. “That one-hopper (from Medina) came to the plate, Ava caught it and tagged the girl out.
“We’ve lost a few this year so this was a really big win.”