Softball: Huntley thinks big at Libertyville

There's more than one way to skin a cat.

And on Saturday morning, the Huntley girls softball team took the fastest and most direct route: by way of the long ball.

With two outs in the top of the fourth, senior second baseman Hayley O'Mara roped a Hannah Heraty fastball just inside the foul pole and over the left field fence for a 2-run dinger that helped erase a 1-0 deficit.

The blast scored sophomore pitcher Tiffany Giese (single) and gave the Red Raiders a 2-1 lead that eventually helped put the exclamation point on an 8-3 victory over the host Wildcats in the opening game of the Libertyville Quad, which also featured Fremd and Wauconda.

"I knew it was out when the ball left the bat. I was just hoping and praying that it wasn't going foul," said O'Mara, who now has five round-trippers this spring. "We kept the energy from that inning going for the rest of the game. And our defense - especially the outfield - saved us today."

Leading 2-1, Huntley (10-4) didn't stop there in the fourth.

Not to be outdone by O'Mara's shot, senior third baseman Megan Baczewski belted a 3-run opposite field blast over the right field fence to plate sophomore first baseman Taylor Pacana (she'd reached on an error) and freshman catcher Sophia Tenuta (single) to make it 5-1 and give Huntley some breathing room.

"We've been hitting well and if there's a pattern that develops, it usually takes us through the order," said Red Raiders coach Mark Petryniec, whose team sent eight batters to the plate in that fourth frame. "We had quality swings and in that fourth inning we picked up and sustained our energy. And Tiffany ((Giese) did a great job on the mound against a good hitting Libertyville team."

Speaking of Giese, the Huntley ace went the distance scattering 8 hits while walking only one to improve her mark to 10-3.

Libertyville had jumped out to the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when senior first baseman Franny Quenan (reached on error) raced home on another error.

After the 5-spot in the fifth, Huntley then added 2 insurance runs in the sixth and another in the seventh.

Trailing 8-1, Libertyville (12-4) staged a rally in the bottom of the seventh. Senior shortstop Jamie Stevens smacked a single that painted the left field line and Heraty then smashed a drive over the center-field fence.

"Too little, too late," said Libertyville fifth-year coach and former Stevenson standout Elissa Wisniewski. "We couldn't close out on multiple innings. We need to learn how to do that because it lets teams back in the game."

Heraty, who was cruising along until the fourth, fell to 11-5. She wound up going the distance, allowing 7 hits to accompany 2 strikeouts and 2 walks.