Batavia 15, Rosary 5

Two days after a double dose of humiliation, the Batavia softball team exacted a measure of redemption.

The Bulldogs capitalized on every opening Rosary gave them and never let up in cruising to a 15-5 nonconference victory over the Royals on Monday afternoon in Batavia.

"All the girls were very upset as to how we played as a team (in back-to-back 11-0 losses to Bartlett on Saturday)," said Batavia coach Leon Pedraza. "This team has been really close to breaking out."

With the bases loaded and Brooke Nelson at the plate in the first for Batavia (2-6), the freshman ignited the two-out magic that would frame the Bulldogs' approach for the remainder of the afternoon.

Nelson scored Kelly Coleman, Alexa Schofield and Kelsey Phalen with a double to right-center, and the attack became contagious from there.

Freshman Brenda Rocha of Rosary (1-5) returned the favor with a two-out, run-scoring double in the Royals' second -- but Batavia responded with more firepower in its half of the inning.

Katie Luetkens, in her first at-bat of the season, clouted a solo blast over the left-field fence to get the run back.

"The key for us today was that we came out there with nothing to lose," Luetkens said. "We all came out with a good mind-set."

After a two-base fielding error produced another Batavia run, senior Brooke Jancik added a 2-run shot to extend the Bulldogs' cushion to 8-1.

Kyle Schalz, on the other hand, figured she had seen enough.

The Rosary senior had a day to forget in the field but compensated at the plate with a career first.

"I've never had a triple, home run and a double in a game before," Schalz said. "I had never played that bad in the field before. I have been hitting well all season."

Schalz doubled to the farthest reaches of right-center field in the first and plated Lauren Contorno in front of her with a 2-run home run in the third.

The truncated contest cost Schalz a chance for the cycle.

Rosary reduced its deficit to 8-5 after the third, only to see Batavia extend the margin with impunity the rest of the way.

Schofield, who finished with 3 hits and 3 runs scored, tripled in the fourth with two outs and trotted home on a Phalen single.

The floodgates then opened in the Batavia fourth when the first eight batters all reached safely.

The Bulldogs had only 2 hits in the sequence, but bases-loaded singles by Luetkens and Phalen sparked the requisite runs to invoke the slaughter rule.

"We don't like to lose," Schofield said. "That should be everyone's mentality (offensively) -- to crush it."