Looking to the future

Lions hope growing pains now mean success later

Lisle continued its education in varsity softball in a home 9-1 loss May 6 to Coal City.

The Lions (3-16, 2-13, Interstate Eight Conference) had led 2-1 in the fifth inning the previous day in the home-and-away series but lost that one late by a 10-2 score. This time, the Coalers (19-0, 14-0) made sure they got their offense going early.

The Coalers scored two in the first, three in the second and two in the third before Lisle could get a run. Adding to the Lions' difficulties was the fact Coal City ace Kirsten Verdun (7-0) was on her game.

Ten years to the day that Kerry Wood fanned 20 Houston Astros for the Cubs, Verdun struck out 16 Lions hitters. That was a season high for her.

"She's somebody who's able to get a lot of strikeouts," Coal City coach Brad Schmitt said. "She goes to a lot of deep counts."

Lisle misplayed several balls in the field, leading to three unearned runs. Jackie Todd (2-10) took the loss despite going the distance.

Todd hurled scoreless innings in three of the final four frames. Two of those innings were 3-up, 3-down performances.

"We take our errors and try to correct them next game," Lions left fielder and leadoff hitter Ali Curry said.

Curry had one of the three Lisle hits against Verdun. She smacked a one-out single in the fifth and finished 1-for-4.

The junior also gunned down a Coal City runner at third in the fifth inning.

Reminded of the 16 strikeouts Lisle's offense allowed, Curry said the team might have benefited from choking up on the bat.

"She has a screwball and we're pretty inexperienced hitting off those," Curry said.

Lisle is relatively inexperienced, period.

Liz Todd is the only senior on the team and seven of the 12 roster names listed are either freshmen or sophomores.

The thought is that the team will take its lumps this year, develop and afford varsity experience to future talents. Then, hopefully, Lisle will enjoy success over the next couple of seasons.

Adding a new twist to the mix was a recent injury suffered by sophomore catcher Colleen Drennan. After a collision at the plate the previous week, Drennan suffered another injury behind the plate May 5 in Coal City.

The desire by coach Jennifer Pomatto to include Drennan's bat in the lineup led the Lions to put her in untested waters: the infield.

"She's an athletic kid who wants to play and wants to do well," Pomatto said. "Our trainer and I talked and made the decision to have her play shortstop to avoid any chance of another injury.

"We don't want her to miss the rest of the year," Pomatto said. "Colleen, even though she's only a sophomore, is a very vocal team leader along with Liz Todd."

Drennan caught two hard-hit line drives and also showed a strong arm on plays deep in the hole.

Sophomore Katie Harris moved behind the plate for the game.

"(Colleen) did a nice job and so did Katie," Pomatto said. "They did everything we asked."

Comment at thelislesun.com