It’s good to be Grayslake North’s Livengood
With a 3-run homer and an RBI double, Grayslake North sophomore first baseman Nikki Livengood was certainly living up to her last name Wednesday morning.
For the sake of being grammatically correct, though, she was actually living well, as were all of her teammates for that matter throughout their nonconference game at Round Lake.
The Knights seemingly could do no wrong, dominating every aspect from start to finish in their 19-0 five-inning victory.
Not only did every starter have multiple hits in a 24-hit explosion, ace pitcher Kristi Gandy was literally unhittable. She threw her second no-hitter of the season, allowing just 2 walks along the way.
“It felt great,” Livengood said of her first home run of the season, a shot over the left field fence. “I think a game like this boosts our confidence. We have a lot of power on our team, and I think it will stick through the season. And Kristi is a great pitcher. Being behind her is an honor. Just playing with her is amazing.
“This team really wants to go downstate. That’s a big goal for a lot of teams, but last year, winning regionals was a big step for us and we lost only three players from that team.”
Grayslake North, which was up 16-0 after two innings and improves to 4-2 on the season, showed one of the most important qualities of a state qualifier: depth in the lineup.
The starters were super-efficient at the plate. Jordyn Bowen went a sparking 5-for-5 (with a double and 3 RBI) while Megan Mertins, Marli Kram and Livengood were all 2-for-2 and Brooke Tracy and Gandy were each 3-for-4. Gandy also added a solo home run for good measure. The other cherry on the top was that Christina Freese and Kaley Buchman came off the bench to combine for 3 hits while fellow reserve Emily West drew a walk.
On Tuesday in a doubleheader against Highland Park, the Knights were just as potent from the top of the lineup to the bottom, putting up 20 runs in one game and 14 in the other.
“We were talking yesterday about our offensive firepower. Our lineup is really, really solid, from batters one through seven,” Grayslake North coach Molly Jones said. “I have every ounce of confidence in all of my hitters. I think this was a pretty good indication of how our hitters hit consistently.”
Round Lake, meanwhile, was only consistent in its trouble with Gandy. She rolled up 10 strikeouts and didn’t allow either of Round Lake’s base runners to advance past first base.
“As a whole, everything was working today,” said Gandy, whose pitching record improves to 3-1. “Our defense was also working well together and that really got us through.”
Round Lake’s defense was working nonstop, defending against 34 base runners out of a possible 41.
“They are good hitters and they hit the ball a ton,” said Round Lake sophomore pitcher Kristin Pierce, who went the distance and falls to 1-1 in the circle. “I felt a little bit good knowing that I was getting some strikes out there. But it was tough because they’re so good. I definitely know what I have to work on now. I have to work on getting (the pitches) lower.”
Sara Plasencia and Lourdes Delarosa were the only two batters to reach base for the Panthers (on walks). As upperclassmen, they are among a distinct minority in the starting lineup.
Round Lake, which falls to 1-3, starts 2 sophomores and 3 freshmen.
“We just let it snowball today and we couldn’t stop the bleeding,” Round Lake coach Travin Kozel said. “But we also talked about some of the things we did right. This is a really young group and I just reminded them that they are a lot better than they were last week and a ton better than they were last year. We’re going to get better every game with all these young players.”