NEW LENOX -- Lightning twice Monday struck the swing of Joliet Catholic Academy's Adriana Hughes, with Providence senior outfielder Brittany Hutter hustling for a rainbow shot down the left-field line in the first inning and hauling in a deep whack during the fourth.
A left-handed hitter with lethal knowledge of the strike zone, however, the patient Hughes provided the biggest bolt of timely energy in the top of the sixth. The senior shortstop turned on an 0-2 pitch from Celtics ace Emily Perish to decode a Scrabble-esque phrase.
Hughes equals huge.
"I was definitely thinking I was due," said Hughes, whose low RBI liner to right plated the winning run in probing the Angels to a 4-0 victory over host Providence in the battle of East Suburban Catholic Conference softball unbeatens. "After I got robbed again, I knew I needed to get it through that time."
Much like the Rolling Stones song, time was on the side of JCA (11-3, 5-0), which improved to 9-1 in its last 11 games. Providence (11-4, 6-1) stranded five runners -- three in scoring position -- in the second through fifth innings before back-to-back errors nudged open the door enough for Hughes' hit to alter the late-inning dynamics.
While the go-ahead rope of Hughes had the Angels alive at a 1-0 lead, junior outfielder Danielle Reilly followed with an RBI groundout for a 2-0 edge in the sixth. Senior third baseman Maile Corpus contributed a 2-RBI single in the seventh to complete the scoring on only 4 hits, with 3 errors from the left side of Providence's infield.
On top of Hughes' heroics, sophomore first baseman Morgan Krisch singled, walked, stole a base and scored for JCA. Corpus sacrificed and scored, Reilly added another single and senior outfielder Jessica Tezak and junior catcher Brianna Hickey also scored runs -- all of them ending up unearned.
Errors equal trouble.
"We got a couple of breaks," JCA coach Dave Douglas said. "We were making contact, hitting them right at people, and in the last couple of innings, we finally hit one in a hole every now and then and we were able to get a couple of runs out of it. Adriana snapped on it, pulled a nice pitch, and that was great."
"I knew I had to get it into play," Hughes said. "We had runners on, and I did everything that I could to get it into play. Honestly, I was just hoping I would hit it, and I wasn't trying to aim for any certain spot. I was trying to get it into play."
That played precisely into the hands, or should one say right arm, of Saint Xavier University-bound senior pitcher Amie Brown (9-1). She fanned 14 and scattered 4 hits and a walk, striking out the side in each of the first, third and sixth innings. Sixty-nine of her 103 pitches went for sure strikes.
"In both the sixth and the seventh, we picked up on their mistakes," said Brown, who credited her rise and curve for keeping Providence in check. "We hit well and we hit the ball hard, and the warm weather made a big difference, too."
"Amie was firing it," Corpus said. "I've never seen her fire it that much. The first three batters couldn't even touch her, and as it was getting into the later innings, we knew we had to get something started. Once one person starts hitting, everybody starts hitting, and together, we try to feed off of each other."
Each time Providence put a runner on base, Brown responded with a strikeout, a groundout, a pair of infield popups and a flyout. Hutter fisted a single to center in the third, senior catcher Michelle Karr doubled to right-center in the fourth and Perish led off the seventh with a walk.
The Celtics' high-water mark came in the bottom of the fifth, when senior first baseman Ashley Kozan lined a one-out single off Brown's leg and sophomore third baseman Chloe Oprzedek, a southpaw, sliced a two-out single into left-center. Brown caught a popup to squelch the threat.
Sometimes, it just takes one.
"That's the thing," Providence coach Jay Biesterfeld said. "We've been solid on defense, but you make a mistake and it's going to cost you. It's unfortunate because my shortstop and my third baseman have made one error apiece all year long, and again, it came down to not putting the ball in play. We made it much too easy on them with strikeouts."
"I'd say that was our biggest issue -- not getting the hits when we needed them, in the clutch," Karr said. "We're usually pretty good defensively, but that hurt us a little bit there, and I thought Emily pitched very, very well."
The very, very underrated Perish (7-3), a senior righty, struck out 5 and relinquished 4 hits and a walk, spotting 67-of-101 pitches for strikes. Biesterfeld noted the Celtics had not allowed more than 2 runs in the past 10 games.
"Emily pitched great," Biesterfeld said. "She did a great job when the defense was behind her, but we couldn't get a rally going or get the big hit when we needed it to help her out a bit."
"Oh God yeah," Karr said, nodding. "Emily had a good game."
The second and final game of the home-and-away ESCC series between JCA and Providence continues on Wednesday at JCA. The Angels still will be without standout junior outfielder Stefanie Churchwell, who has been shelved "indefinitely," according to Douglas, with a shoulder injury. She sat on the bench with her arm in a sling.
Churchwell's replacement in center, junior Stephanie Barichello, made a snow-cone catch in the seventh. Brown and Krisch, the latter diving on a bunt, snagged lineouts. The Angels gained their extra oomph, though, once Hughes shook off her first two at-bats by shopping a single through the gap between the first and second basemen.
This time, it just took one.
"Adriana hit a couple of good balls earlier in the game that their left fielder made nice plays on," Douglas said. "So, it was good to have a situation like that happen for her, and we didn't stop. Even our pitcher said for the bottom of the seventh, 'It's so much easier with two more runs.' It makes a difference for your confidence to relax and then play your game."
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