Montini's Lezcano repeats 2-homer performance
This is not a good time to pitch to Montini sophomore Emily Lezcano.
Well, good for Lezcano and the Broncos. Not so good for opposing softball teams.
Lezcano enjoyed her second consecutive two-home run game, launching Montini to a 10-2 victory against Rosary on Friday afternoon in Lombard.
"It's just been looking like a beach ball lately, I don't know why," said Lezcano, who has 4 homers on the season. "I was just looking for the perfect pitch. It was right there in my drive zone."
"She's locked in. The ball looks like a beach ball to her," Montini coach Richie Costante added, continuing the theme. "She's worked hard, and the first couple of games this season our whole lineup was struggling, to be honest. To these girls' credit each and every one of them has worked their butt off. They've come in, done extra hitting. The mindset at the plate is different. They come in, they know what pitches they're looking for and they're executing. It's nice."
Montini (5-4, 3-0 Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division) had trouble executing at the plate through the first four innings, with the exception of Lezcano's second-inning homer to center field that tied the game at 1-1. Rosary pitcher Elayne Young finished with 4 strikeouts, all in the first two innings.
"The first five innings of the game we had them," Rosary coach John Kazmerczak said. "We had them down 1-0, then we had them down 2-1 and there was just no life."
"Elayne did a great job. She kept us off balance there," Costante said. "She got us swinging at her pitches early in the game and she did a real nice job. She's one of the better pitchers in the conference, and we knew that going in."
Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the fifth, Montini scored six times in the inning, sending 10 hitters to face Young (1-3). The rally started at the bottom of the order, Tacia Mesina leading off with a single to left and going to second base on Isabell Alexander's bunt hit.
Trojnar followed loaded the bases by doing the same thing Alexander did, beating out a bunt. Cristina Barrett drove in Mesina with a single to left, and Alexander scored when she beat the throw home on Sara Ross' grounder.
That brought Lezcano to the plate again, and she saw another beach ball. This one went to left center for a 3-run home run.
For the game Lezcano went 2-for-3 with a walk, 4 RBI and those 2 beach balls.
"I feel like I'm on top of the world," said Lezcano, who helped the Broncos beat two-time defending Class 3A champion Glenbard South on Thursday. "I'm really excited. I'm really excited for my team. This is a big win for us. We're 3-0 in conference."
"She's by far the best hitter we've seen so far this season," Kazmerczak added.
The Broncos scored three more runs in the sixth inning when Ross drove in Barrett and Alyssa Sclafani with her first homer of the season.
Rosary had its chances to score, loading the bases in the second, fourth and fifth innings, only to be frustrated when Montini pitcher Lauren Trojnar (4-1) worked out of each jam without much damage. She struck out eight, walked two and allowed just one earned run in seven innings.
"She does a great job out there," Costante said of Trojnar. "The best thing about her is she's been on the big stage, both here and with the summer teams that she plays for. She doesn't get frazzled. She comes out, hits her spots and does a good job for us."
Rosary (1-7, 1-2) got a run in the second inning when Danyal VanGundy drove in Jessica Wade with a bases-loaded single to left field. Emma Molenhouse scored in the fifth on Sarah Willman's bases-loaded single to center.
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