Perryman, Hernandez lead Elgin to 3rd at Larkin Slugfest
The softball teams from Elgin, Larkin and St. Edward had different results on Saturday, but the one thing they all got was more valuable experience.
For the first time, the three Elgin high schools participated in the 17th Annual Larkin Slugfest at the Elgin Sports Complex. Newcomer Elgin had the best results of the day, finishing 2-1 and taking third place, while Larkin and St. Edward each went 1-2.
"To go 2-1 with these teams out here is a good day for us," said first-year Elgin coach Chad Dahlman.
The Maroons (9-15) salvaged their day with a 7-3 win over St. Edward in the third-place game. They opened the tournament with a 9-3 win over Oak Lawn and then fell to Chatham-Glenwood 12-2 in the semifinals.
"Oak Lawn's a good team and Chatham's a good team," Dahlman said. "We were able to fight through it all and we hit the ball well today."
Elgin's production was led by senior Brandi Hernandez and sophomore Hannah Perryman. Hernandez went 7-for-8 on the day before having to leave the final game after 2 at-bats to join a senior class trip, which starters Kelly Patchett and Jenna Jaynes missed the tournament for. Perryman hit 2 home runs, had a triple, 2 doubles and 5 RBI in the 3 games, as well as 2 wins in the circle.
"It means so much the way we've improved," said Perryman, who struck out 10 against Oak Lawn and then scattered 4 hits in 4 innings of work against St. Edward before giving way to Jennifer Fulton, who earned the save.
"Everybody's playing more together this year, we're all friends and there's no drama. We're so stoked right now."
Said Dahlman: "With Hannah, her big thing is getting ahead and staying ahead. If we can play defense behind her we can compete with any team."
In the third-place game, Elgin jumped ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning, played solid defense and took advantage of 10 errors on the Green Wave. Perryman's RBI double and run-scoring singles from Samantha Doty and Mari Aguilera paved the way in the first and St. Edward was left to play catch-up.
The Maroons led 5-2 after four innings when Dahlman went to Fulton to finish up in the circle. Fulton had been roughed up by Chatham-Glenwood, last year's Class 3A state runner-up that came into Saturday's action 9-1.
"She came in and threw strikes," said Dahlman of Fulton. "She struggled a little against Chatham and anybody could have lost confidence after that but she came back and battled."
Larkin's day started with a 10-0 loss to Plainfield Central. The Royals (6-14) came back to beat Johnsburg 5-1 but then fell to Oak Lawn 10-4 in the consolation championship game.
"Well, the bright spot is we broke a five-game (Slugfest) losing streak," said Larkin coach Larry Hight. "The last game I was experimenting with some backups and it didn't work out. Some coaches' experiments work out and some don't. At Slugfest you play everybody and play some people out of position for the experience in case you have injuries. Overall, we did OK today."
Junior leadoff hitter Corinne Wimmer had a stellar day at the plate for the Royals, going 6-for-10 with an RBI. Alex Buhrow had a home run and a double against Oak Lawn and an RBI against Johnsburg, while Anna Esterino doubled against Plainfield Central. Lexi Smithberg was 3-for-3 against Johnsburg and Kelsey Lodge and Maggie Hoffman drove in runs against the Skyhawks.
Megan Johnson and Smithberg suffered losses in the circle and Kiernan Schock (3-5) picked up the win for Larkin against Johnsburg.
St. Edward, a last-minute addition to Slugfest when Lincoln-Way Central dropped out, had a rough day defensively, committing 20 errors in the 3 games.
"Twenty errors; that's embarrassing," said Green Wave coach Mike Rolando, whose team slipped to 11-9 for the season. "We can hit and our pitching is good but we have deserted our pitchers and it's not just one position, it's everybody. All week we've given away wins to teams we're better than and it's getting difficult to watch."
Kristina Brockner had an RBI double and BreAunna Medinger two run-scoring singles but the defense let down losing pitcher Sarah Field, who also allowed 11 hits.
St. Edward started the day on a good note with an 8-4 win over Johnsburg. Tarah McShane, Field (2B, 3 RBI), Brockner (2 RBI), Veronica Rolando (2-for-3, RBI) and Kelsey Richmond (RBI) led St. Edward's offense and Field earned the win. Against Plainfield Central, St. Edward managed just 2 hits, one of them a double from Maddie Kerr. Medinger suffered the loss in the circle despite allowing just 6 hits.
"We've got (20) games under our belts now and we're still making the same mistakes," said coach Rolando. "The girls have to find it within themselves and show a will to win. We have to make plays and make teams earn wins over us. If we keep playing like this we're not going to win many more games."
No. 2 seed Plainfield Central knocked off top-seeded Chatham-Glenwood 7-6 in the championship game.