FRANKFORT -- The situation certainly seemed ominous enough for Lincoln-Way East High School's Caitlin Santefort, especially from facing the scoreless scenario of two outs in the bottom the fourth inning and a howling-in wind that could blow back a bullet.
But on a first-pitch screwball by Lincoln-Way Central junior right-hander Jackie Dugan, Santefort staged a voluminous siege Wednesday, smacking a solo home run over the left-center fence -- spiking her reaction as she rounded first base with a celebratory trifecta.
A hop, a skip and a jump.
"Yeah, I was really excited," said Santefort, whose first varsity homer on a sunny, warm, gusting afternoon grooved the host Griffins to a 1-0 SouthWest Suburban Red softball victory over the snakebit Knights. "And at the same time, I was trying not to get too excited."
That's because, as the starting pitcher, Santefort (4-2) was still chasing nine more outs. The sophomore righty struck out 5 and gave up 5 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings for Lincoln-Way East (8-6, 2-4), which has responded to a stark 1-6 stretch and a string of four straight losses with a primed pair of wins.
Despite a single, a sacrifice and a walk from senior shortstop Cassie Redman, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi recruit, and a double from revitalized Northern Iowa-bound senior outfielder Courtney Dunker, Lincoln-Way Central (10-5, 4-3) suffered its second conference setback in as many games.
While junior outfielder Nellie Kosola went 2-for-3 with consecutive singles for East, Dugan (5-4) matched Santefort via a 5-strikeout, 5-hit, 2-walk gem in her 6 innings. Santefort streamed 62-of-103 pitches for strikes, Dugan delivered at 55-of-94, and the difference sailed through the air.
A ping, a smash and a run.
"I felt like we had a runner in scoring position every inning," East coach Katie Meader said, referring to the Griffins stranding five of their six runners in the first 3 innings. "So at no time did I feel like we were not going to push through, and then Santefort comes up and steps up with the big hit. That was amazing, and obviously, she pitched a fantastic game."
"That was jacked -- that was jacked," Kosola said, smiling. "The wind was blowing in so bad, you really had to hit it like that for it to go out, and that's what (Santefort) did."
What Central could not do against Santefort was capitalize. Dugan, the Knights' No. 9 hitter, also singled and walked. Senior second baseman Gabe Gavoni, the Illinois recruit, singled and reached on a scratch infield error. Sophomore third baseman Gina Brown singled with two outs.
Much like Monday's 1-0 loss to Bradley-Bourbonnais, Central stranded 8, pushing the total to 18 in the past two games. East escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third when Dugan drilled a liner, Redman chopped a single to the hole at short and Gavoni nailed an infield hit to short.
"No doubt, we're struggling with our hitting," Central coach Dick Mandella said. "I think every team goes through it, and like I told them, we're either going to fight our way through it or put our heads down and feel sorry for ourselves and things will continue to escalate into a downward cycle. I'm confident that our kids are going to fight back."
"We need to get our bats going," Redman said. "Sooner or later, they're going to pull through. We're hitting them hard, just right at people. It's hard right now, but this is going to make us stronger, and I believe we're going to break out of this and be even stronger."
With Kosola's sinking liner to center to lead off the first as the ignition switch, East actually started stronger than Central. Senior second baseman Lyndsey Slawkowski executed the first of her two sacrifice bunts to no avail before junior DH Alexa Harke singled past a diving Gavoni in the second.
Another great diving attempt by Gavoni on Kosola's single to right to lead off the third dissipated after a walk to
senior catcher Bri Lizen and Slawkowski's sacrifice would be wiped away by interference on senior outfielder Ashley Linhart's infield single to second.
Thereafter, junior third baseman Alex Fjeldheim followed Santefort's homer in the fourth with a two-out, sixth-inning walk -- Dugan retiring seven of the Griffins' final eight batters on a couple of strikeouts and 4 groundouts. Central struggled at 7 flyouts to East's 2, with Santefort being the launched exception.
One pitch. One connection.
"It was an inside screwball and she hit it," Dugan said. "I know who she is and I shouldn't have thrown it because I knew she could hit it. Every team goes through it, but I just think we're in a slump, it's our turn to go through it, and we'll step it up. We always do. It's good for us because we'll see what we're made of now."
"It's a shame to waste the efforts we're getting pitching-wise," Mandella said. "And we're making all the plays. We're not getting anybody on base early in the inning, we're getting people on base with one or two outs, and that takes away a lot of things that you can do from a running standpoint or trying to hit-and-run there."
In search of the tying run, Central received Dugan's leadoff walk in the fifth, Dunker's two-out double down the left-field line in the sixth and Redman's two-out walk in the seventh. Grand Valley State-bound senior shortstop Maggie Kerrigan helped clinch with a performance that featured a putout, 5 assists and a pregame speech.
"We were pumped for this game, and when 'Fresh' hit that one out, it was pretty exciting," Kosola said. "It's a pretty big win because it's conference and it's Central, and we're doing good."
"Absolutely," Meader said. "Both teams go into it with a little bit more, so that has a lot to do with it, and Maggie's pep talk really got the girls going. And I'm glad that we were finally able to finish out a seventh inning."
On the mound, Santefort provided said finish, particularly with a strikeout after Dunker's double. At the plate, Santefort's homer reigned, and as Redman pointed out about Dugan, "Jackie pitched great -- it's one pitch." Both pitchers then deserved credit, albeit Santefort gaining a lion's share during the fourth.
One swing. One premonition.
"I kind of knew it," said Santefort, who spotted her curveball for effect and coaxed Central into elevating her riseball into a variety of flyballs. "I was waiting for that pitch, I saw it right there, and it was right where I wanted it."
Comment on this story.
www.heraldnewsonline.com
Related Content [Click to close/expand]
Facebook App
Font Size
Black Text
Cell Phone Alerts