Softball: Geneva downs South Elgin for 1st win
With just one senior in its starting lineup Tuesday, Geneva doesn't have the luxury of a lot of experience this season.
That's just one of the reasons the Vikings are glad to have junior Sam Keller back, both anchoring the defense at shortstop and batting at the top of the order.
Keller continued her hot hitting against South Elgin, going 3-for-3 and drawing a walk. She scored all four times she came up in a 10-4 win - the Vikings' first of the season.
Keller's older sister Katie, the two-time All-Area captain now at Northern Illinois, is just one of those graduated players Geneva (1-4) is trying to replace.
"Last year our seniors were our main leaders so being Katie Keller's sister is kind of a big role to fill so I'm trying my hardest to step up and make sure everyone is talking and cheering and all the positive energy is up," Sam Keller said.
"The first few games we weren't gelled but we had a talk before the game today about how we have to come together and have each other's back and be positive. The last few games the dugout was quiet. Today we had a lot of good energy in the dugout."
Emily Viebrock and Sydney Erdmann also went 3-for-3 for Geneva as South Elgin (4-4) used three different pitchers but none had much luck retiring the Vikings.
Keller set the tone in the bottom of the first when she pulled a single down the right field line. She stole second base and scored when Viebrock blasted a double to the right-center gap.
After South Elgin scored all four of its runs in the top of the third, the Vikings quickly tied the game in their half. Keller again got the rally started with a triple. Viebrock singled home another run, and Erdmann made it 4-4 with her RBI double.
"She (Keller) had some nice swings today," Geneva coach Greg Dierks said.
The Vikings then took the lead for good with four runs in the fourth, chasing South Elgin starter Sidney Strama. Sophia Salazar entered and gave up RBI singles to Isabella Walton, Sydney Haake and Erdmann.
Viebrock completed the scoring in the sixth with a 2-run single, giving her 4 RBI.
"She has been swinging well," Dierks said. "Getting comfortable every day out there and more aggressive in her swings and it's paying off."
All that firepower made a winner of sophomore Shelly Deisz who scattered 6 hits. She walked just one and struck out seven.
After South Elgin scored four runs in the third, Deisz retired 13 of the final 14 batters she faced.
"Shelly pitched well today," Dierks said. "We ran down a few balls in the outfield we needed. She's very quiet about things. She doesn't show her emotions much which is good for a pitcher. We put numbers down where we want the pitches and she generally hits them. Her and the defense settling down after the four-run inning was a good answer because we've struggled to do that."
Casey Brennan doubled, scored a run and had an RBI for the Storm who didn't have one player with multiple hits.
It was quite a contrast from the Storm's previous game, a 14-2 win over Conant.
"These kids don't know who Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is so I had to teach them who that is," South Elgin coach Brad Reynard said. "We just didn't pitch very well, we didn't catch it well. My hats off to Geneva. I thought their pitcher kept us off balance. It's a long season and we can't take any of these teams for granted."