Hohman wins pitchers’ duel
Shannon Hohman and Jamie O’Brien’s first meeting didn’t do justice to the type of good young pitchers they are.
Both were on their game in the rematch.
Waubonsie Valley freshman Hohman beat her Neuqua Valley sophomore counterpart for the second time in nine days, outdueling O’Brien 2-1 on Tuesday in Naperville.
No. 13 Waubonsie (19-6, 10-3 Upstate Eight Valley) won the first matchup 6-4, a game dominated by offenses that combined for 21 hits. The only offense in this one, though, was a two-run homer by Waubonsie’s Amanda Minahan in the top of the fourth and an O’Brien solo shot in the bottom half. Hohman (15-4), who allowed just 4 hits and a walk while striking out three, said it was by no accident.
“I definitely made adjustments,” she said. “In the first game I gave up a lot of hits, and a lot of back-to-back hits. This game I buckled down more. I had the advantage of knowing their weaknesses more, and I used that to my advantage.”
Hohman especially relied on that knowledge with the game on the line. In the bottom of the seventh, Megan Hannigan singled with one out, and an out later Rebecca Lincoln reached on an error. Next up was Neuqua’s Loyola-bound leadoff hitter Kat Widup, who was 3-for-4 in the first game. Hohman, though, retired Widup on a harmless popup to end it.
“That first game, Kat hit every single outside pitch I threw to her,” Hohman said. “Today I went inside on her and I shut her down, which was a big difference.”
Hohman worked around errors in the sixth and the seventh, stranding two runners in each inning.
“I’m proud that we were able to finish, to stay through it the entire game,” Waubonsie coach Alyson Kelley said. “Shannon and I, we’re slowly getting on the same page working together. It’s coming along.”
Neuqua (16-11, 9-5) lost its fourth straight game and is 1-5 over its last six, but Wildcats coach Melissa Wilson had much to build on. O’Brien allowed just 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out five in her best outing in a couple weeks.
“I thought we played well and Jamie was definitely on,” Wilson said. “We needed a game like that to get back into the swing of things. Last week was definitely a hard week for us and Waubonsie’s a very good team. It could have gone our way, but it didn’t, but we know what we are capable of.”
In a scoreless game Waubonsie’s Melaina Koulos singled to start the fourth. Minahan, who had a huge day Saturday with 7 runs batted in against Oswego, unsuccessfully tried a hit-and-run on O’Brien’s first offering, then bunted foul. On the 0-2 pitch she hit a drive that cleared the fence in center for her seventh homer of the year.
“I knew I had to battle because I had two strikes on me,” Minahan said. “Jamie pitched me high and I knew I had to swing at it because it was in the strike zone. Lucky for me the ball went over the fence.”
O’Brien’s homer leading off the bottom half drew Neuqua closer, but Hohman shut it down from there.
“In the beginning of the year, me and coach Aly didn’t know each other, she didn’t know my strengths or weaknesses.” Hohman said. “Now as the year goes on we are communicating better. When I shake her off she knows what pitch to call next. It used to be I’d shake her off three times, and then she’d call the pitch I wanted. Now we’re working together better and we’re feeding off each other. I’m not throwing the same pitches, I’m mixing it around the batter’s box and it’s made a difference.”