Elgin’s Perryman lights out against Larkin

Larkin softball coach Anne Vogt said it best when talking about the dominance of Elgin junior Jennah Perryman.

“She was a dominant pitcher,” said the Larkin coach. “Her pitch selection was excellent. She was amazing. Offensively, she is strong and aggressive and crushed the ball. She could have beaten us by herself. My hats off to her.”

Perryman, who tossed a 7-inning no-hitter while striking out 17 and walking 3, also crushed 2 home runs and drove in 3 runs to lead the Maroons to a 10-0 win over crosstown rival Larkin in Upstate Eight Conference River Division action at Larkin Wednesday afternoon.

“I am still a little sick and coughing, but felt pretty strong,” said Perryman, who is still feeling the after effects of a sinus infection. “All my pitches were working. My riseball was really moving. I had good speed on my pitches. I hit 2 homers here (at Larkin) last year and had some really good swings.”

Retiring the first 9 hitters she faced, 8 on strikeouts, Perryman lost her perfect game bid when she walked Samantha Wahl to start the fourth inning. The junior walked the next hitter, Beka Harrington, to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Perryman regained her composure and struck out Jaclyn Saurbaugh to end the inning.

“Jennah wasn’t 100 percent,” said Elgin coach Chad Dahlman. “She really responded with a great performance. She really threw the ball hard and mixed her pitches well. She really swung the bat with confidence. She was very aggressive at the plate.”

Elgin’s offense produced hits and runs early and often. Benefiting from two Larkin errors, the Maroons (7-6, 4-5) scored 2 unearned runs in the first on a 2-run single by Caroline Sobeski.

Elgin scored 3 in the second on RBI singles by Anna Eckholm and Bri Wright and a solo homer by Perryman.

The Maroons scored a run in the fourth on a solo homer by Eckholm and added an unearned run in the sixth and 3 in the seventh, powered by a 2-run homer from Perryman and a solo homer by Kelly Bremer.

Sarah Hansen was the starter and loser for the Royals (1-12, 1-7).

Offensively for Elgin, along with Perryman’s heroics, Eckholm was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. Bremer (2 RBI), Lisette Sanchez and Melanie Berg collected 2 hits each.