Softball: Hersey clubs its way past Deerfield

Hersey sophomores Lauren Steininger and Natalia Kubsic belted their first varsity home runs in the Huskies' home opener on Wednesday.

And the varsity newcomers showed their defensive prowess to end the game.

Steininger, who was behind the plate for the final innings, fired a strike to shortstop Kubsic who put the tag on a runner trying to advance to second for the final out of Hersey's 9-3 nonconference softball win over Deerfield.

"We've had a great sophomore class come out," said Hersey coach Molly Freeman. "Antionette Napoli is a sophomore, too, who is helping us and she played second base at the end of the game."

Also joining the home run parade was senior Savanah Gazda, whose 2-run blast to right center sparked the Huskies' 8-run third inning.

Gazda also threw the final three innings in relief of classmate Brianna Luciano, who struck out six and allowed only 1 hit in the first four innings to pick up her second win against no losses.

"We had a lot of big hits," Freeman said. "For your home opener, you want to come out hitting."

Luciano (2-for-4 and Gazda (2-for-3), who now has 2 homers this spring, led the offense while Makayla Tsalagis (2 walks), Chloe Gordon, Sarah Bailitz (2 walks) and Morgan Breden each had 1 hit.

Kubsic's homer made it 7-1 in the third inning.

"It was my favorite pitch, high and outside," said Kubsic, who a year ago was playing on the junior varsity in Phoenix, AZ for Pinnacle High School where she hit 2 homers. "It's fun playing here (in Illinois)."

The Huskies (3-0) had fun in the third inning when they sent 13 batters to the plate.

"Our bats were a little slow to start out with but we picked it up," Freeman said. "Hitting can be contagious once someone gets it started."

Northwestern recruit Halle Mangurten did her best to start things for Deerfield (2-6). The Warriors' junior leadoff batter and shortstop came into the game hitting .647. She showed why with a 3-for-4 performance, including an RBI double that gave her team a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

"She's had a phenomenal start to the season," said Deerfield coach Sarah Douglas. "I was super impressed with how our kids played today. We're playing good softball. I couldn't be more proud of them. I like playing a good team like Hersey. It gets us better."