IC Catholic Prep keeps seeing results
It was senior night Thursday evening for the IC Catholic Prep softball team as it finished off visiting Fenton 12-0 in 5 innings.
Four seniors - Lindsey Montoya, Jackie Pochop, Jessica Conenna and Gabby Curran - were honored before the game at Plunkett Sports Complex in Elmhurst, and the evening was not only a milestone for them but for the team as well.
The Knights improved to 20-3 overall and 7-3 in the Metro Suburban West, and they have big plans for the postseason. Thursday's festivities showed the regular season is in the home stretch and the postseason fast approaches.
"We've been training to get better and we see the results each game," said Curran, who finished with 3 hits and 2 RBI. "We're definitely proud to get the win."
Coach Frank Reaber is very pleased with how IC is playing so late in the season. He just wants his team to stay focused on avoiding the occasional stumbles that have come upon it this season.
"When we're good, we're really good. But when we make a mistake, it tends to turn into multiple mistakes. We're better about it than last year. But we just have to stay focused on getting clean innings," he said.
The Knights were pretty much flawless from the start, scoring 5 runs on 4 hits in their half of the first inning. Kaitlyn Falduto's 2-run single and Curran's RBI infield hit were the big hits of the inning.
IC added 3 more runs in the second. Winning pitching Jessica Conenna led off with a triple to right and Montoya hit her in with a one-out single to left. Pochop's groundball out scored Montoya.
The ICCP hitters finished up for the evening in the fourth with 4 runs on 3 hits. Conenna's second triple of the game scored 2 runs and Curran's single brought home another.
Conenna allowed just one hit and struck out 6. She set the Bison down in order in three of the five innings.
Reaber was glad Conenna's pitch count was limited Thursday as the Knights have to come right back Friday with a big challenge at Riverside-Brookfield.
The Knights prevailed over Riverside-Brookfield 6-0 on April 14 in the teams' first meeting.
"They're a good team, well-rounded both individually and as a team," Curran said.
Fenton stands at 13-13 after the loss and remains winless in the Metro Suburban West. The Bison's lone hit came in the third on Keila Lozada's infield hit where she beat out a groundball.
Coach Dave Mello said that despite the Bison's troubles in league play, it will help the team prepare for the postseason.
"The conference is tough. IC and St. Ed's have Division I pitchers. Glenbard South is a state power. There are no off days in conference," he said. "We've struggled to score runs in conference. We average almost 8 runs a game against nonconference teams and we average about a run in conference."
Fenton's nonconference schedule includes much bigger schools such as Fremd, Elk Grove and two teams that it will see at its own Bison Blast next week - Naperville Central and Willowbrook.