O'Mara powers Huntley past Hampshire
See the ball. Hit the ball. Crush the ball over the fence.
That's been the storyline early in the softball season for Hayley O'Mara.
O'Mara hit her fourth and fifth home runs of the season to help power Huntley to a 13-7 win over Hampshire in Fox Valley Conference crossover action in Huntley Monday afternoon.
It was the Red Raiders' (8-2) sixth straight win.
O' Mara's round-trippers were solo shots in the third and fifth innings.
"I am really seeing the ball well and getting good swings," said O'Mara."My approach is very good and I am getting a lot of good inside pitches to hit. I am hitting with a lot of confidence."
Huntley coach Mark Petryniec is pleased with O' Mara's hot start to begin the season.
"Hayley is really getting good swings at the plate," he said. "She is on a roll right now."
The Red Raiders, who scored in five of the six innings, seized control of the game with 6 runs in the second.
With 11 batters coming to the plate, the Red Raiders collected 6 hits and benefited from 3 Hampshire errors.
Tiffany Giese collected a 2-RBI single while Megan Larson delivered a run-scoring double. Shannon Walsh, Megan Baczewski and Autumn Kasal each had RBI singles.
The Red Raiders scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings on solo homers by O'Mara and Larson.
Huntley ensured victory with 4 runs in the sixth. The runs were scored on a 2-RBI double by winning pitcher Kateri Conklin, a run-scoring double by Baczewski and a run-scoring single by Haley Spannraft.
Walsh paced the Red Raiders' offensive attack which produced 15 hits, with 3 hits, 3 stolen bases and 2 runs scored.
Conklin, pitching 4⅔ innings to pick up the win, gave up 4 runs on 4 hits while striking out 5 with 7 walks.
Giese, in relief, hurled 2⅓ innings. She gave up 3 runs on 3 hits.
Huntley was hindered by 4 errors.
"We certainly swung the bats well in scoring 13 runs" said Petryniec. "Our pitchers have to cut down on the walks and we have to play better defense."
Aly Snyder paced Hampshire with a 3-for-4 effort with a solo homer and an RBI double. Haley Widmayer suffered the loss in the circle.
"We made a couple of key mistakes," said Hampshire coach Stacey Stepek. "But we made some improvements today."