South Elgin’s bats come alive in sweep
With his team’s next seven games at the Warriors Southern Classic in Murfreesboro, Tenn., against top-notch competition from Tennessee and Alabama, South Elgin softball coach Jason Schaal wanted to see his team hit the ball better on Monday than it did in a season-opening doubleheader loss to Sterling on Saturday.
The Storm did just that.
South Elgin pounded out 20 hits en route to a nonconference doubleheader sweep at Dundee-Crown, winning 9-1 and 8-6 in eight innings.
Senior Sam Bolin picked up both wins in the circle for the Storm as well as clubbing the game-winning double in Game 2. Her travel ball teammate, Dundee-Crown senior Melany Love, also had another big day at the plate, going 5-for-9 with a double and a triple.
“We didn’t play bad Saturday, we just didn’t get any hits,” said Schaal. “Today the bats came out a little and that’s a good start. Sam pitched great today and I’m happy to see her get the wins.”
The Storm jumped on Dundee-Crown for 2 runs in the top of the first inning in the opener and rolled from there. Brittany Koss led off with a single, stole second and scored on Sara Irving’s 2-out single. Irving then came home on Bolin’s single to right field. Bolin ended up 5-for-8 on the day as well as pitching 11 innings.
“We hit today as opposed to Saturday not hitting,” Bolin said. “That’s what it really was.”
The games were played on a raw and windy day, the first one of its kind this spring. But it didn’t phase Bolin or the Storm.
“It’s not that cold,” she said. “Once you’re moving you should be able to play in any kind of weather.”
The only run Bolin gave up in Game 1 came in the bottom of the first when Love led off with a deep triple to right and scored on a wild pitch. The Chargers loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth but Bolin got a line out and two grounders to get out of the jam. She struck out 9 and walked only 1.
South Elgin’s 12-hit attack continued in the third inning when sophomore catcher Alyssa Buddle led off with a rocket-shot home run to left-center. Buddle also had a double in the fifth and scored on a single from Sara Irving (3-for-4, 4 RBI). Sam Helton added an RBI single for South Elgin in the seventh.
In Game 2, Bolin came on in relief of Taylor Rees in the fifth inning and the Storm ahead 6-5. She did allow the tying run in the bottom of the seventh but then atoned for that with her game-winning 2-run double in the eighth. She added a second double and 2 more RBI earlier in the game. In her 4 innings in the circle, she struck out 6 and walked 2.
Irving went 3-for-4 again for the Storm and Koss had a triple and an RBI. Eissler had 2 hits for D-C (3-4), Lauren Mercado was 3-for-5 with an RBI, Mallory Schilf had 2 hits with a triple and 2 RBI and Lauren Lococo had 2 hits with a double. Eissler suffered the loss in the circle in both games.
“We had the bases loaded and couldn’t squeeze something out of it and we were still in the game at that point,” said Dundee-Crown coach Tracy Beatty of Game 1. “(South Elgin) hit the ball well. They hit some shots. We’re molding and I’m seeing progress. The fundamentals are getting stronger. It’s a good group and I think if we stay together we’ll be OK.”
Schaal agreed, and gave kudos to Love, who is now hitting .577 for the season.
“Melany Love is a ballplayer,” Schaal said. “The girl can hit. I was telling our pitchers all day that it was important to get their 8-9 hitters out because we didn’t want to see her with runners on. (Dundee-Crown) played really good softball. One through nine they stepped in and swung the bat and made good contact. Tracy’s doing a great job over there.”
Now it’s on to Tennessee for the Storm, where they will play seven games, including one against Riverdale, Tenn., a 13-1 team that is ranked No. 1 in Tennessee and No. 13 in the country by MaxPreps. The Storm will also play Hatton, Ala., the defending Class 2A champ in Alabama. Time will tell as the week unfolds if juniors Victoria Watt and Kara Rodriguez will be back in the lineup. Watt has played the first four games at shortstop but not hit while recovering from a fractured left wrist and Rodriguez, who did courtesy run on Saturday, is still coming back from ACL surgery.
“I don’t know when it’s going to be but at some point we’re going to add Watt and Rodriguez to the lineup and that’s going to get us another 3-4 hits a game,” Schaal said.