Duffy rakes as Pats roll

Holding a long wooden rake, Genny Duffy stood outside her Stevenson softball team's dugout and encouraged her teammates to chip in, as the infield needed some manicuring.

Ah, if only all the Patriots could rake like Duffy.

Actually, they did against visiting Libertyville on Friday, winning 10-0 in five innings to improve to 11-7 overall and 4-1 in the North Suburban Lake Division.

Junior sluggers Duffy and Amanda Jaegers led an 11-hit attack, as each went 2-for-3. While Jaegers hit a 2-run double and RBI single, Duffy crushed two balls that would have been home runs on probably any other fenced field.

Duffy settled for a double that rolled to the left-field fence and a run-scoring triple that skipped to the fence in right. At Stevenson's field, mind you, it's 225 feet down the lines and 255 feet to center.

Two long hits for a girl whose full first name is Genevieve.

"It's very long," said a laughing Duffy, who was named after her grandmother. "It's a lot of E's."

As she showed against Libertyville (5-12, 2-5), Duffy has a lot of power. She has no home runs, however, in part because Stevenson's field nearly rivals the adjacent baseball diamond in terms of size. Former Barrington star Ashley Berggren is the only player to ever hit a ball over Stevenson's softball fence.

Frustrating?

"Oh my goodness," Duffy said. "You have no idea. That warning track is so far. It happens so often. It's like you know you crushed (the ball) and it's not going to go anywhere. It'll be like a double. Not cool."

Stevenson pitcher Allison Micucci also hit a long double, knocking in two runs. Micucci's shot sailed over the head of Wildcats center fielder Mandy Vogg.

"We have days when we can hit for power," Patriots coach Larry Friedrichs said. "We have probably four or five kids in the lineup that can hit the ball that well."

Libertyville hit the ball in the first inning. Brittany Schick led off with a single and was bunted to second by Erika Teitz. But she then tried to score on Athena Cocallas' sharp single to right and was thrown out.

First baseman Jaegers took right fielder Jamie Finkle's throw and fired to catcher Annelise Docel, who tagged out Schick.

"When I said, 'Hold it, hold it, hold it,' she blew me off," Wildcats coach Mary Tiegs said of Schick. "Because it was hit too hard out there, she wasn't going to make it. I knew that. She apologized."

Libertyville never got another hit off Micucci, who struck out five in her 5-inning complete game.

Jordan Willis' pinch-hit RBI single with one out in the bottom of the fifth ended the game. The Patriots also got a 2-hit game from Emma Patrash and an RBI single from Finkle. Alyssa Vechiola drew a bases-loaded walk.

Libertyville hosts Stevenson at 11 a.m. Saturday.

"We're learning this year," said Tiegs, who started a freshman battery in pitcher Calley Kaluzny and catcher Nicole Kruckman, and no seniors. "We're building. We're going to take our lumps, but the (girls) are positive, they're great kids and they work hard."