Minooka's sauce: Marsala

JOLIET -- After a saucy swing to straightaway center field, Minooka High School's Kassie Marsala lifted her head up only a stride past first base, looked at assistant coach Mark Guzman and reacted like Phoebe in an episode of "Friends."

On a 1-1 count in the top of the seventh inning, Marsala made Joliet Township feel as harried as a chef from Italy. The freshman outfielder greeted Steelmen junior right-hander Chloe Carroll with a solo shot toward the KFC sign at Joliet West -- the taste oh-so-sweet.

Forget about the cold.

Forget about the wind.

This was fried and grilled.

"I was like, 'Oh my God!'" said Marsala, who went 4-for-4 with a double, a home run, 2 runs and 2 RBIs Tuesday to pour the Indians to a 5-2 nonconference softball victory over Joliet Township. "I was really excited, and you knew if you put the bat on the ball, it was going to go."

One day after a 5-2 loss to top-ranked Lincoln-Way East, Minooka (2-1) was good to go once Marsala's RBI double started the scoring in a 3-run first inning. Although JT (0-2) rallied within 4-2 by the bottom of the sixth, Marsala's first varsity homer literally applied the icing to the Indians' cake.

Icing, that is, on another frigid afternoon where the

constant presence of sun barely belied the wintry cold and "Wizard of Oz" winds. However, Minooka relied on Marsala's career-building effort and the sizzling right arm of sophomore Kristi Lenz (1-0), who struck out 6 in 3 innings to land the win.

Beyond Marsala, the Indians also cooked at the plate with sophomore outfielder Lyndsay Doyle (walk, steal, run), senior first baseman Elyse Wright (RBI single, run), sophomore catcher Andrea Carlson (double, 2 sacrifices, RBI) and senior second baseman Taylor Johnson (RBI single). And Marsala's fourth hit exploded.

Forget about the freeze.

Forget about the gusts.

This was high and dry.

"That's right," Minooka coach Amy Saelens said of Marsala. "She had a heckuva day, and I'm very proud of her -- very proud of what she's done. I know it's hard sometimes coming up as a freshman and feeling a little nervous, but she's obviously comfortable at the plate now and she's a great asset to our team."

"She did an amazing job," nodded Lenz, who likewise nailed 36-of-51 pitches for strikes. "At first, I didn't know her at all. When she made the team, I thought, 'Cool. She must good then.' After her double today, I was like, 'Wow!' She kept hitting, and as soon as I saw that last one go, I knew it had a chance. It was awesome, and I felt really good for her."

Trailing 4-0 after 2 innings, JT should have been reeling, but the Steelmen bounced back behind 2 hits each from sophomore shortstop Emma Plese and sophomore first baseman Colleen Cummings. Sophomore second baseman Sarah Montour and junior outfielder Jhavon Hamilton also singled and junior catcher Emily Sewing smacked an RBI double.

Buoyed by Plese's bunt single to lead off the third, JT whittled the deficit to 4-1 after Montour's single and a pair of errors scored Plese. In the sixth, the switch-hitting Hamilton sliced a southpaw single to third and scored on Sewing's double to left-center, but Sewing turned into the second Steelmen runner cut down at home or picked off third base.

"We teach our kids to be aggressive and we're going to take that chance at home again," JT coach Laurie Markatos-Pappas said. "Everything has to go right for the team making the throw, and who knows what happens if we score that run? And I was really proud of how our kids didn't lose intensity. When you go down 3-0 in the first, it's pretty tough."

"Well, it's definitely hard to bounce back from that," Plese said of being in the 4-0 bind. "We tend to have higher intensity when we're down, and I think we did a really good job of coming back, fighting and getting some runs in. We were more solid defensively and Chloe did awesome today."

Awesome definitely described the fifth for Carroll (0-2), who who allowed 7 hits, 2 walks and an earned run in 7 innings with 7 strikeouts. After an error, Marsala's single and a fielder's choice on Carlson's sacrifice bunt loaded the bases for Minooka, Carroll struck out the side on 16 pitches.

"Chloe did a nice job," Markatos-Pappas said. "That's showing a lot of mental toughness on her part, and she wants to be a leader for us this year, taking the team on her shoulders. We're seeing an inkling of that, and we're a young team that's going to make mistakes. But we're growing and I expect every game for us to get a little bit better and better."

The beginning proved to be best for Minooka. After Wright and senior shortstop Leah Roman reached on errors, Marsala's double to deep center scored Wright and Carlson's sacrifice fly to deeper center scored Roman. Johnson then grounded an RBI single up the middle for the 3-0 lead. In the second, Doyle walked, stole second and scored on Wright's RBI single down the third-base line.

"It was a turnaround day for us," Saelens said. "Mentally, we were a lot more into the game, cheering for each other, and that helps -- knowing the team is there for you. Offensively, getting those runs at the beginning helped for the rest of the game, too."

"It's takes the pressure off when your offense is there to back you up," said Lenz, who received relief help from sophomore Kelsey McCarthy and junior Kelly Chesnut, who combined for 2 strikeouts in 2 innings apiece. "The big thing today was to forget about yesterday and play our game, and it always feels good to strike some people out."

Because of Marsala, Lenz focused like the H&R Block "I've got people" commercial. A line drive to center and a grounder past short for hits in the third and fifth innings would have sufficed, but Marsala brought out the eye candy with her one-out homer.

Forget about the singles.

Forget about the double.

This was good and plenty.

"It felt really good because Chloe used to be on my travel team (the Homer Hawks), so it was great getting a couple hits off of her," Marsala said. "I was kind of nervous playing on the varsity at the start of the year, but all the girls have been nice to me and it has been coming pretty easy."