Softball: Carmel fields a winning effort against Warren

Knowing Carmel Catholic's softball infield would be at least muddy, if not snow-covered, coach Shane Schueneman arrived at the diamond early Saturday morning.

Two-and-a-half hours later, he looked at his field and checked the time.

"At 11 o'clock, I didn't think we were going to (play)," Schueneman said.

By 1 p.m., Carmel took the field for its home opener against Warren.

It then took less time than it takes to rake a batter's box for the Corsairs to take control of the nonconference game. The sun shone, and the home team shined. Claire Petrus belted a 3-run homer in the first inning, and Carmel never stopped, well, raking, en route to a stunning 17-0 win.

"We all warmed up really well," Petrus said. "I think that was the key thing. We all got here and we were like, 'OK, it's cold, but we're playing.' We tried to zone out (the weather)."

Carmel (8-1) added 7 runs in the second inning, six in the third and one more in the fourth, pounding out 16 hits on the day. The Corsairs were powered by Petrus, who besides going 4-for-4 with 7 RBI, also pitched a five-inning complete game with 10 strikeouts.

Her gem, mind you, was against a Warren team that went 31-3 last season after winning the Class 4A state championship in 2014.

Warren, which did not throw North Carolina-commit Hannah Nommensen (day off), fell to 5-5.

Warren's Bucknell-bound Julienne Egofske called the constant reminders of the Blue Devils' success the last two years "annoying." She notes, especially since there are several new players on the roster, it's no time to panic.

"And I think a lot of people are," Egofske said. "They're like, 'What's going on?' Everyone's getting all frazzled. But I think we're OK. We just need to relax out there."

Carmel looked confident and comfortable from the beginning against the lefty Egofske, who drew the start in the circle.

With two aboard and one out in the bottom of the first, after she struck out the side in the top of the inning, the lefty-swinging Petrus launched a pitch over the 195-foot sign in right field. It was her second homer of the season.

Then in the second, freshman Jordan Swiatkowski hit her second home run of the season. Carmel also got singles from Flynn Johnson (1-for-2), Taylor Ganan (1-for-2), Jen Giesey (2-for-3), Dani DeLozier (2-for-3), Petrus and Karina Falkstrom (2-for-3) in the inning. Amanda Elert (2-for-2) lifted a sacrifice fly.

Carmel's third-inning outburst featured hits from Giesey, Elert (two-run double), Petrus (two-run single), Emma Bartz (1-for-2) and Falkstrom (two-run single).

"This was a big win," Schueneman said. "This was the best we've played all year. It was a complete game. We finally put it all together.

"I think it was a lot of pent-up frustration from having been in the gym all week," he added, smiling.

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh-bound Petrus allowed just 4 hits, including doubles to Egofske and Crystal Pennell.

"My curveball was really good," Petrus said. "I was spinning it really tight, Amanda (Elert) was framing it really well, and (the home-plate umpire) was calling those outside corners. So everything was working."

"She hit her spots," Schueneman said of his ace. "She pitched very well."

Warren not only graduated four regulars, but all-area center fielder/Penn State commit Emily Hudgins was lost for the season in the team's season opener against Deerfield. The junior suffered a torn labrum diving into third base. Warren coach Jenna Charbonneau said Hudgins underwent surgery Thursday.

Hudgins' loss, while Schwarber-esque for Warren, shouldn't spell doom for the Blue Devils.

"It's still early," Charbonneau said. "We're not hitting the panic button, but we got some things to work on. Unfortunately, practices are few and far between because we got rained out so much last week."

Finding time to practice will be a challenge. Like most teams, Warren has a full plate of games scheduled for the week.

"We need to practice better," Charbonneau said. "That's on me. That's not on the girls. We need to have more intense practices."