Softball: Willowbrook falls to Hinsdale South
In the midst of a little slump at the plate, Hinsdale South senior Holli Jones was not about to fall behind in the count in her first at-bat Wednesday at Willowbrook.
Instead of taking a pitch or two, the veteran softball catcher went up there ready to hack. When she jumped on the first offering from the Warriors' Zoe Dannenberg for a two-out, 2-run home run over the wall in left center, it was all the offense the visiting Hornets needed in their 3-0 West Suburban Conference Gold Division victory.
“We've faced her a lot of years in a row,” Jones said of the Warriors' senior pitcher. “I've actually been struggling a little bit, but it was good to kind of come out of my slump. I just jumped on it. I was sick of taking pitches and wanted to jump on her right away.”
Staked to a quick lead, Hinsdale South's Madison Kern pitched a gem, limiting the Warriors to just 2 singles in the game. Dannenberg singled to open the bottom of the first, but Kern retired the next 12 batters before Kaylin Schuda led off the Willowbrook fifth inning with a single.
“Madison has come a really long way. The difference between last year and this year is phenomenal,” said Jones, who caught her teammate last spring. “She's really zoned in on her accuracy and limited the walks. She's working really hard and I'm real proud of her.”
After allowing that leadoff single in the fifth, Kern retired the next three hitters to protect a 2-0 lead. Kern then led off the sixth with a single that led to an insurance run and made the final score 3-0.
“I think I did pretty well, but my teammates really helped me out whenever they did get solid hits,” said Kern, whose defense turned a double play in the top of the sixth to help her cause.
For the Warriors, who dropped to 8-5 and 1-1, it was an usually tough night at the plate. An infield error that allowed Jones to bat with two outs and a runner on in the first inning also didn't help matters.
“That's just something that has been haunting us … the first-inning blues I feel sometimes just sets the tone for the game,” said Willowbrook coach Rachel Karos.
“Early on this season we have been able to get on it and hit. I think we're just hitting a little bit of a skid with our hitting. Usually that's not really us. We've been hitting fairly well.”
Hornets coach Kelly Van Hout was thrilled with her team's ability to blank the Warriors and improve to 2-12, 1-1 in the Gold.
“Our defense, all the way around including Madison, was phenomenal,” she said. “To hold that team to 2 hits … our defense did a great job of making the plays.”