Softball: Ortegel, Kaneland slam St. Charles East
Kaneland's softball team got off to the optimum start against St. Charles East Saturday morning.
Four batters into the nonconference contest, the Knights (25-6) led 4-0 as a result of sophomore Olivia Ortegel's grand slam - a booming home run that sailed over the left-field scoreboard following a leadoff walk to Donatella Sommesi and back-to-back singles from Rose Roach and Hailey Roach.
Kaneland added another first-inning run on Danyelle Borysiewicz's RBI double, providing a 5-0 cushion for starting pitcher McKenna Ryan.
The Saints (18-9) scored 3 runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning but Ryan held them scoreless the rest of the way, firing a complete game during the Knights' 10-3 triumph in St. Charles.
"When you can score those kind of runs early in the contest, it definitely lets your pitcher settled down a little bit on the mound," said Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler. "That's our goal - we want to be as aggressive as we can at the plate and let our pitchers be as comfortable as they can be."
The Knights made it 6-3 in the fourth on Rose Roach's RBI double before adding 3 more insurance runs in the fifth, highlighted by Lillie Lindgren's RBI single and a 2-run home run from Borysiewicz (3 for 4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI).
"That's the second home run in two days for that young lady," Kuefler said of Borysiewicz. "Yesterday (12-2 win over DeKalb), it was a grand slam so she's coming through at the right time for us."
Borysiewicz, who also stole a base, sliced a 3-2 pitch just over the outstretched glove of Saints left fielder Elliott Sanders for her second home run in as many days.
"Whatever is pitched I normally want to hit it the same way," said Borysiewicz. "If I pull that pitch, it normally ends up in bad contact so I try to hit it where it came from."
Off the bat, Borysiewicz wasn't necessarily thinking home run.
"That one was kind of iffy," she said. "I knew I hit it well and I hit it hard because it felt good off the bat but I didn't know (it was a homer) until I started going around the bases."
Rose Roach (3 for 4), Ortegel (2 for 3) and Borysiewicz keyed Kaneland's 11-hit attack. The Knights' 7-8-9 hitters - Lindgren, Borysiewicz and Cassidy Motyke - reached base 6 times in 12 at-bats and drove in 4 runs.
"It's a different pitch call when you have the bottom of the order on base for that top of the order," said Kuefler, who welcomed the opportunity to face a strong Class 4A team in St. Charles East.
"One of the biggest things we want to do is keep the momentum going as we head to the postseason. Playing good competition likes this - that does it for us."
Krista Sbarra and Chelsea Campagna each had a pair of hits for the Saints, while Lauren Luna (RBI double), Katie Arrambide and Izzy Howe drove in runs.
"We went down 5-0 early and could have hung our heads but we didn't," said Saints coach Jarod Gutesha. "We put the pressure right back on them but we didn't score after that."