Jacobs goes 2-1 at Harlem
MACHESNEY PARK — Jacobs had not been able to put together a big offensive inning.
Dundee-Crown’s Mallory Schilf needed to come out of her batting slump.
Both happened during the final games of Saturday’s Harlem Softball Invite.
Jacobs scored 5 runs in the fourth inning of its 8-4 win over Belvidere North to close out the day 2-1. Schilf smacked a triple and a double and scored twice in the Chargers’ 5-3 loss to Deerfield.
“We talked about getting insurance runs,” said Jacobs’ Nicky Chapa, who hit a 2-run triple in the fourth inning. “We’ve been in a slump the last few games. That last inning boosted us a lot with offense.”
Teams played to a 1 hour, 15 minute time limit, which meant the Jacobs victory over Belvidere North (19-9) ended after the fifth inning. D-C (7-22) went 6 innings with Deerfield (10-13).
Jacobs scored 3 runs in the second inning with doubles from Jacquelyn Hengler and Kaitlynn Woloszyk. The Golden Eagles (18-14) led 3-2 before hitting around the order in the 5-run fourth inning. Alyssa Lach hit a double, followed by Chapa’s triple in an inning which also included 2 errors.
“The last couple of days, we’ve been winning, but it’s been really close,” Golden Eagles’ coach Jeremy Bauer said. “It was good to see everyone contributing and clicking on offense. We needed that going into next week.”
Jacobs’ win over Belvidere North came just after Rockton Hononegah defeated the Golden Eagles 8-5 with a 5-run final inning. Jacobs led 5-3 going into the fifth inning before the Indians (25-6) offense began rolling.
Stevie Atterbury picked up the win against Jacobs, after opening the day with a victory over Dundee-Crown. The Indians scored a 10-4 victory over the Chargers after scoring 6 runs in the third inning, including a home run from Tatianna Reyes.
The Chargers got a triple from Lauren Lococo in the loss.
United Township took an early 5-0 lead and did not allow D-C to come back into the game during the Chargers’ second loss. During the game Schilf went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. She felt some redemption when she bounced back with her pair of extra base hits against Deerfield.
“I’ve definitely been in a slump,” said Schilf, who admitted her slump has lasted about a week. “This got me out of it. It felt good to get those (hits). It gave me more confidence to get going.”
The Chargers had several chances to get going against Deerfield, with bases loaded and a 3 all tie in the fourth. D-C could not get the big hit and pitcher Hannah Odzer struck out 2 to end the inning.
“We didn’t produce the hits when we needed to,” Chargers’ coach Tracy Beatty said. “We hit better in that last game then we did in the first two. The problem was putting hits together.”
Jacobs opened the day with a 2-0 victory over host Harlem. Hengler and Courtney Cotugno scored both of the runs in the win. McKayla Lein (9-6) picked up the win giving up just 4 hits in the shutout. Chapa went 3-for-3 in the victory.