Batavia does the dirty work in beating Rosary
Getting dirty has never looked so good.
That was the theme for the Batavia girls softball team Friday. They showed up an hour early before their home game against Rosary and made sure they got their uniforms dusted up in fielding practice.
The reason? Frustration from an 0-2 start and wanting to make the extra effort to notch their first win.
The work paid off with a 10-5 victory. The Bulldogs (1-2) scored 5 runs in the first inning, then after Rosary (2-2) cut the lead to one, Batavia broke the game open with a 4-run fifth.
"It was really important for us," winning pitcher Brooke Nelson said of the win. "We were just really ready to win today. Our mentality was totally different than the other two days."
Bulldogs coach Leon Pedraza made sure the mentality changed with the practice beforehand.
"We practiced getting dirty," Pedraza said. "We practiced diving at ground balls. They all got into it. And I said don't wipe that dirt off. I want to see it the entire game."
Right fielder Meghan Fabian set the tone in the first inning. Even though on her diving attempt she wasn't able to come up with Ali Keenum's shot that went for an RBI triple and a 1-0 Rosary lead, the effort was what her coach liked.
"Meghan took a dive in right field and I applaud her for that because that's what I want to see," Pedraza said.
Batavia jumped on Rosary with five runs in the first inning, helped by three straight walks after Katie Luetkens singled sharply to start the inning. Avery Vivian's single gave Batavia a 2-1 lead. Junior Lindsay McEachern delivered the big blow in the inning, a 2-run double that made it 5-1.
All three of the walks scored. Audrey Ruddy (1-2) took for the loss as the Royals continue adjusting to the rule change that moved the pitching circle three feet back this season.
"None of our pitchers are used to this 43-foot thing," Rosary coach John Kazmierczak said "That's a big thing. Our pitchers need to get ahead in the count. That's what's leading to the five-run innings. That was the big difference in the game today, Batavia got ahead and we didn't."
Rosary got to Batavia starter Katie Coleman for 4 runs in the fourth inning. Chelsey Frieders capped the rally with a double to the gap in right center that plated a pair of runs and made it a 6-5 game.
That prompted Pedraza to go to Nelson, who got a strikeout to end the inning and leave the tying run stranded.
Nelson held Rosary scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking two.
"I think her speed threw us off," Frieders said.
Pedraza liked the work of both of his pitchers, who received plenty of support from an offense that pounded out 12 hits. Every starter had at least 1 hit, with Vivian, Kelli Jancauskas and Sami Villarreal collecting 2 hits.
"Katie Coleman did a heck of a job but you could see she was losing a little steam," Pedraza said. "What better pitcher to bring in a pressure packed situation than Brooke Nelson. That was outstanding."
Rosary freshman Cara Smoczynski made her debut, entering the game in the fourth against Batavia's 2-3-4 hitters.
She got through that inning unscathed, then ran into trouble in the fifth. Sophomore Katie Neubauer stroked a 2-run double that put the Bulldogs ahead 8-5. Later in the inning Villarreal scored on the back half of a double steal, and another run came in on a dropped pop-up.
"Yesterday (Minooka) we had a tough loss," Neubauer said. "We went in more pumped up (today)."
"We are talented but we can't go out there waiting for things to happen, we have to make things happen," Pedraza said. "That is what I was most pleased with today."