Meline pitches just fine as Vernon Hills cruises

Vernon Hills' Sara Doerhoefer called Wednesday's 6-0 shutout over host Palatine as a great way to start the season for the Cougars.

And it was the senior center fielder and leadoff batter who got the Cougars off to a great start.

Doerhoefer singled to left-center field and three batters later came home from third when junior Emily Evanson drilled a hard infield grounder with the bases loaded.

Junior Paige Kahalnik also scored on the play from second base, giving the Cougars a quick 2-0 lead - plenty for pitcher Megan Meline, who tossed a 2-hitter with 2 strikeouts.

The Cougars sophomore ace (7-4 last spring) was perfect until two outs in the bottom of the sixth when Pirates senior Melissa Serio singled off her glove.

The only other baserunner Meline allowed was a hit to left by junior Sam Salomone with two outs in the seventh.

"Megan pitched awesome," Doerhoefer said. "This was really a great start. Everyone played well. Our defense, offense and pitching were all good. Hopefully, it's a good season for us. I like the way we started."

Cougars coach Paul Weber didn't mind the start, either.

"We're a very young team (only three seniors) and this was a good start," he said. "Megan is awesome. She's a good all-arounder player. She can play anywhere but catcher."

Those duties were handled by sophomore Nicole Wagner, who scored one of the Cougars' 3 runs in the seventh inning when Meline and Lauren Yacullo each had RBI singles.

"Our third baseman (freshman Jennifer Claussen) made some nice plays and she hit the ball," Weber said. " For a freshman at third base, she did an awesome job.

"I thought we played excellent defense. For a team this young to come right out of the box like this, I'm happy."

Palatine coach Jeff Manz would like to see his team (0-2) come out of the box fast today against visiting St. Viator.

"If we can set the tone early in the game, that will help," Manz said. "In our first two games, we've made errors early that put pressure on us. I think our defense will mirror our offense and vice versa. And for us, our defense has been out there first because we've been the home team both games."

Lefthander Dani Boisvert struck out the side in the first inning after Vernon Hills loaded the bases to start the game.

The junior finished with 10 strikeouts and 2 walks.

"Danielle settled down and did a real nice job," Manz said. "I was really impressed.

"And I thought their pitcher had a decent change-up that kept us off balance. Our slappers have to find the holes. They haven't done that yet."