Cavin cooperation helps Conant cruise past South Elgin
She's only a freshman but Conant's Miranda Cavin already looks right at home behind the plate.
And why not? One of her pitchers is from her own home.
Miranda caught her sophomore sister Briana's 3-hitter in Game 1 of a softball doubleheader Thursday as the Cougars topped host South Elgin 12-1 in 5 innings.
Miranda also caught the night cap, this time a 12-1 victory in six inning as junior Kailee Prasbrig fired a 4-hitter with 4 strikeouts and no walks.
Conant, which also had 14 hits in each game, improved to 5-0 going into today's doubleheader at Maine West.
"They both (Brianna Cavin and Prasbrig) were hitting their spots," said Miranda Cavin, who went 3-for-4 in Game 2 with 3 RBI. "I don't mind catching both games at all. I love it."
And Brianna loves throwing to her sister.
"We've been doing it since we were seven or eight years old," Brianna said. "I feel real comfortable with her back there. I love pitching to her. It's just natural. "
Brianna is natural hitter, too. She batted a team-high .312 last spring as a freshman all-area selection.
She went 2-for-3 in Game 1 with a double and a triple.
Other top hitters for Conant in the opener were Miranda Cavin (2-for-3), junior Hilary O'Donnell (2-for-4), junior Sarah Pawlik (3-for-3) and senior Melissa Bojes (2-for-3).
"This season, our team is together and we are getting along real well," Brianna said. "We have a lot of talent, too."
Cougars junior first baseman Paige Ward went 2-for-3 with a walk in Game 2 while sophomore shortstop Allie Bauch, O'Donnell, Pawlik, Prasbrig, Brianna Cavin and sophomore Ariel Salinas each had 1 hit.
"Two great wins," said Conant coach CathyAnn Smith. "Miranda is a workhorse and she likes it. On Wednesday, she played right field (against Maine East and a threw a batter out at first base).
"All the girls are working really hard. They are doing all the little things they need to do. Their fundamentals are sound and the teamwork right now is the key. We've got everyone playing together right now and picking each other up."
Th Cougars could have easily picked up a few more hits if it weren't for some dazzling catches by Storm junior centerfielder Katelyn Stonecipher.
She made a great all-out diving shoestring grab of Brianna Cavin's liner for the final out of the third inning.
In the next inning, she also made the final out when she leaped high on the run and grabbed Kim Jacobson's liner.
"There definitely were some positives," said Storm coach Jason Schaal. "Those were good catches by Stoney (Stonecipher).
"But we still made too many errors that could have gotten us out of innings. CathyAnn (Smith, Conant coach) has a great team and a super program. And we couldn't' afford to give them extra outs."