Softball: Lake Zurich breaks away from Libertyville for NSC victory
With a game-time temperature of 38 degrees and a wind chill of 23 degrees, the weather conditions for Wednesday's North Suburban Conference game between host Lake Zurich and Libertyville were not very suitable for playing softball.
But that did not stop the host Bears from gutting it out. They broke open a 1-1 tie with 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth en route to a 6-1 NSC victory over the Wildcats.
Lake Zurich (4-3, 2-0) got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first when Brooklyn Barber led off with a double, moved to third on a single by Claire Kohlman, and scored on a fielder's choice RBI by sophomore winning pitcher Jules Kekstadt.
Libertyville (0-4, 0-2) tied the game in the top of the fourth when Finley Randall reached base on a fielder's choice, moved the second on a walk, and scored on a two-out RBI single to left field by McKenna Weaver.
Freshman Cami Lewandowski led off the bottom of the fifth with a double off Taylor Higham before Kekstadt reached base on an error. Then Alaina Krzeminski hit a 2-run triple down the right-field line before she came all the way home on an error for a 4-1 lead.
“I'm very proud of our team. We're young with a lot of kids on varsity for the first time, and they stayed poised against a very good Libertyville team with good pitching,” said Lake Zurich coach Nicole Pieper. “It was very cold. We're just happy to get outside after having rough weather in March to start some conference games.”
Lake Zurich got two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth when Barber and Kendall Hull walked to open the inning. An RBI single by Kohlman made the score 5-1 before Hull scored on a wild pitch to account for the final score.
“I think when we keep the energy up we can really push through, and my shortstop Brooklyn was cheering me on and that really put me in a better mood to get the next batter,” said Kekstadt, who celebrated her birthday. “My dad always says to me the mind controls the body, not the other way around. So after every pitch this last inning I was telling myself the mind controls the body not the other way around and I honestly felt warmer.”
Higham was 2-for-4 as was teammate Addie Casey. Barber was 1-for-1 with 3 walks while Kohlman and Lewandowski were 2-for-4.
“We just couldn't get the big hit when we needed it,” said Libertyville coach Darwin Townsend, whose team tied the Bears with 6 hits each. “Lake Zurich plays fundamentally sound. And I think that's where we're trying to get to, we're young and we still make some mistakes.”