Lake Park puts it all together against Glenbard East
No one on the Lake Park softball team would complain if the Lancers played every game like they did during Tuesday's 5-2 win over Glenbard East at The Rosemont Dome.
That's because it was like a good receipe with just the right amount of ingredients - solid pitching, defense and hitting.
Winning pitcher Elisabeth Brown evened her record to 1-1 with 6 innings of work and allowed just 2 hits while striking our 4. If the Rams' Kelli Tyler doesn't skillfully put a groundball out of reach of the nearest Lake Park infielder during the second inning, Brown has a 1-hitter.
Brown pitched the first five innings, setting Glenbard East down in order during four of the innings. Brown came back into the game during the sixth with Glenbard East runners on first and second with two outs and two runs scored. Brown hurled a strikeout to end the inning and set the hitters down in order in the Rams' seventh.
"I feel confident in my defense and my curveball and screwball helped keep me alive," Brown said.
She gave up just one flyball during her time in the circle, so the infield had to be ready for its workout. It was, including catcher Marissa Catalano connecting with shortstop Maria Zepeda to stop a steal attempt during the second and void the Rams' first hit of the day.
"The defense was solid and they made sure they were playing in front of the ball," said Lancers coach James Chellson, whose team improved to 1-2.
Lake Park finished with 6 hits. Dina Falk and Taylor Barton each finished with 2 hits and each scored twice. Barton doubled to right with one out in the first and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Lancers an early 1-0 advantage.
Both came through in the third to increase their team's lead to 3-0. Falk reached base on an infield hit and Barton singled to center. Falk scored on a passed ball and Barton was not watched well enough and stole home a couple of seconds after Falk had scored. Marianna Colucci added a triple to center with two outs in the inning.
Falk scored again in the fifth thanks to a double to left and a 3-base error on the same play.
"That's why we got them batting 1 and 2," Chellson said of Falk and Barton. "They are the catalyst for getting things started."
The Rams, playing their season opener, had their best inning of the game in the sixth. With one out Marissa Campos singled to center followed by leadoff hitter Kailey Lyons reaching on an infield hit. But a throwing error turned into a 3-base errror and scored both runners. Marissa West followed that play with the Rams' lone extra-base hit of the afternoon, a ground-rule double.
"A lot of positives came out of this game. The sixth inning was huge. It built a lot of confidence for the team," said Glenbard East coach Nikki Simpson. "Our hitting was good. We definitely put the ball in play."
Lake Park got its final run in the bottom of the sixth. Brown singled to center with Monica Williams getting the team's lone RBI hit, a single, to score Brown.