Comitor, Vernon Hills floor Warren
All Jordyn Comitor focused on was driving.
So the Vernon Hills sophomore started Wednesday, her 16th birthday, by getting her driver’s license.
Later, she drove some more.
Softballs.
And sped.
Around bases.
That was the ticket.
Comitor celebrated a sweet 16th birthday by going a career-best 4-for-4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI, and she and her Vernon Hills teammates celebrated “Senior Day” with a 10-5 win over visiting Warren in the teams’ North Suburban Conference crossover.
“A good birthday,” Comitor said with a wide and proud smile.
As she left Vernon Hills’ diamond, the designated player still had the urge to be designated driver.
“I asked my mom if I could drive home,” Comitor said. “She hasn’t given me an answer yet.”
Maybe her big day with the bat was the key to her getting the car key from Mom.
“Wow,” Vernon Hills coach Steve Korney said of Comitor’s day. “I asked her in the dugout in about the sixth inning, ‘Could you be born tomorrow, as well?’ Because I need some hits like that going against Stevenson (today).
“What a day for her,” Korney continued. “Just her disposition. She was full of sunshine, smiling the whole time and just had the right attitude at the plate.”
Comitor’s approach and smile proved contagious. Vernon Hills (23-8) overcame a 5-3 deficit thanks to a huge fourth inning in which the Cougars scored 5 runs and smacked 6 hits, including doubles by Rebecca Feld, Michelle Harris (2 RBI), Izzy Borgman (RBI) and Comitor (RBI), and a triple by starting pitcher Megan Meline (RBI).
First baseman Feld and left fielder Neha Manchanda — the only seniors on the team — both started.
“Vernon Hills came out with their bats,” Warren coach Carri McGahan said. “That was the prime difference.”
The winners pounded out 14 hits, half of which were for extra bases. Caitlin Sernett also had a double, one of six by the home team, while Anya Mollenhauer contributed a pair of RBI singles.
Nine Cougars had hits.
“We did a great job offensively,” Comitor said. “We didn’t start off so hot, but I think as we settled into it, we got a lot better. I feel like we feed off each other. So when we see other people getting hits, it builds our confidence and it trickles down.”
After Abby Anderson’s RBI groundout in the top of the first gave Warren (19-12) a 1-0 lead, Comitor’s opposite-field, RBI double to left off Blue Devils starter Marcee Olvera in the bottom of the frame pulled Vernon Hills even.
Comitor added an RBI single in the third and ripped a run-scoring double in the Cougars’ big fourth inning.
“I felt really good,” Comitor said. “I felt really confident and comfortable up there. I felt like I was seeing the ball really well.”
Comitor capped her day by lining a 1-2 pitch from reliever Jessica Demski into center field for an RBI single, extending the Cougars’ lead to 9-5 in the sixth.
“That last at-bat, I was like, ‘All right, I can’t mess this up,’ ” Comitor said.
Meline (2-for-3, walk) stole two bases, giving her 34 on the season and extending her school-record total. Rachel Taylor held the Cougars’ old single-season mark with 25 stolen bases.
“We’ve been playing pretty well,” Korney said. “When we hit the ball like that, we’re in any game. We got to keep that going.”
Warren’s first two hitters in its batting order, Megan Sowa and Sarah Shanders, both went 3-for-4 and scored all of the Blue Devils’ runs.
Meline (17-5) struck out seven, walked two and scattered 10 hits. She allowed 3 earned runs.
Sam Belletini and Jill Fox had RBI singles in a two-run third for Warren, and Shanders drove in a run with a triple in the fourth.
“(Meline) is a good pitcher,” said McGahan, whose Blue Devils try to snap a two-game losing streak and try again for win No. 20 at Deerfield today. “She really does a good job of controlling her spots, and she throws hard of course.”