Lake Park hit parade goes through S. Elgin
Lake Park softball coach Tom Mazzie believes if his team can get consistent pitching and defense, it has a chance to do some damage come time for the postseason.
Because one thing Mazzie knows and the Lancers continue to prove is that they can hit the ball.
Lake Park had 15 hits, some of them of the Punch ’N Judy variety but hits nonetheless, and took advantage of 6 South Elgin errors to beat the Storm 10-3 Friday in Upstate Eight Valley play on a brutally cold afternoon at South Elgin.
Junior Marilyn Perry fought through the elements to throw a 7-hitter with 6 strikeouts and 4 walks and the Lancers played clean enough defense to keep South Elgin at bay. Perry also went 3-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI at the plate.
“I’ve been struggling (hitting) so I’ve been coming in the morning and working on it,” Perry said.
Lake Park (14-7, 8-2) stayed in the thick of the Valley race with the win, 2 games behind division-leading Bartlett, which Lake Park has yet to play, and 1 game behind second-place Neuqua Valley.
The Lancers, who bounced back from Wednesday’s loss to Neuqua Valley and have now won 8 of 9, jumped ahead in the first inning when Tara Palandri singled, went to second on an error, third on a passed ball and then scored on a single up the middle by Stephanie Starr. Lake Park then started to distance itself from the Storm (8-17, 5-6) with a 4-run third inning highlighted by another run-scoring single from Starr and Perry’s 2-run double.
“We took one on the chin with Neuqua but we hit the same way. Today they fell in,” Mazzie said. “The girls are hitting consistently and they’re hitting line drives. Pitching and defense have been what’s kept us from going to the next level. If we can clean that up it’s scary to think what we can do because we can hit with anybody.”
While Perry was limiting South Elgin’s chances, the day got colder and colder.
“It’s definitely harder to play in the cold,” Perry said. “My shoulder got tighter every inning.”
But Lake Park’s defense was efficient and the offense kept scoring. The Lancers added 2 runs in the fifth, 1 in the sixth and 2 in the seventh. Only 5 of their 10 runs were earned. Palandri was 3-for-4 and No. 9 hitter Logan Cahill went 4-for-4 for Lake Park.
Senior Sam Bolin (6-10) took the loss for the Storm.
“We still have to fix the defense,” said South Elgin coach Jason Schaal, who inserted sophomore Mallory Mecklenburg into center field on Thursday and sophomore Katie Koss at first base Friday as regular first baseman Sara Irving is still out injured. “Lake Park is a good hitting team. Sam has had to pitch a lot this week but we have to play defense behind her.”
South Elgin scored a run in the third when, with one out, Paige Allen walked, Mecklenburg and Kara Rodriguez singled and Allen scored on Alyssa Buddle’s sacrifice fly. The Storm’s other 2 runs came in the bottom of the sixth as Brittany Koss singled, Katie Koss walked, the former scoring on Victoria Watt’s sacrifice fly and the latter on Allen’s single. Buddle and Brittany Koss each had 2 hits for the Storm.
“It took us a while but we got the bats going,” said Schaal. “Mother Nature kept a few balls in the park on us.
“We ended the game with a senior pitching, juniors at short and second, and six sophomores out there. There are some positives and some things to build on.”