Softball: South Elgin slams Conant
South Elgin went 3-2 on its trip to Tennessee last week, a pitch or two away from 5-0.
The Storm returned to their home field Friday and made sure things didn't come down to the wire in a 14-2 win over Conant.
McKenna Eichholz ended the game early when she laced a ball down the left-field line with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth.
"We had a good trip. This team should be 7-0 probably," South Elgin coach Brad Reynard said. "We're deep so we're happy with any of the lineups we throw out there."
The Storm (4-3) were missing shortstop Sami Koss (wisdom teeth) Friday which gave freshman Cara Cruthers a chance to play second. They also had a different catcher but it didn't stop Sidney Strama from throwing her drop curve and screwball while watching her defense make a number of plays.
Strama allowed 5 hits in 5 innings, walking just one while striking out two.
"I just throw to my spots," Strama said. "I rely on my defense. I think everybody can play pretty much every position which is super nice on a team like this because sometimes in high school we don't get the correct positions for everybody."
South Elgin jumped ahead 1-0 in the first when Geneva Pollman doubled and scored on a single to center by Sammy Jimenez. The Storm scored in every inning, adding three runs in the second, one in third, four in the fourth and five in the fifth.
Pollman, a fourth-year varsity player, went 2-for-4 - one of six South Elgin players with at least 2 hits.
"The pitcher (Katie Maize) had drop movement. Everyone on our team communicated well. We had to bend our knees and lower our strike zone," Pollman said.
"We have a lot of new girls as well and having some more seasoned girls helps everyone get acclimated. I just tell them to relax and not be afraid to make mistakes. I try to assure them it's OK to make mistakes and everyone has each other's back. We have very high expectations for our group this year."
The Storm pounded 17 hits. Casey Brennan (2-for-3, triple, 3 RBI), Jimenez (2-for-3), Eve Hartmann (3-for-4, 3 runs), Strama (2-for-4) and Morgan Meinicke (2-for-3) all had multiple hit games.
South Elgin hosts Batavia on Saturday.
The Cougars (0-3) scored single runs in the third and fourth innings. Ali Falcone, Hannah Oh, Emily Taucher, Maize and Janessa Gonzalez each had a base hit.
Maize pitched the first 3 and 2/3 innings before Kayleen Sebo finished up.
"I've been talking to our girls the importance of getting out early and attacking," Conant coach Allie Bauch said. "This is a new group of girls and we're still learning about each other and how we tick as a group. We're learning each game and just have to get back to work. It's super early. We definitely have a lot to work on."