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Softball: Tigers win two games, but lose Lipiszko
Elmwood Park's Isaly Roman spins around as Lane Tech's Desiree Velazquez slides into second. Roman was 1-for-2 wtih a pair of runs scored and two batted in, during a 27-6 victory over Ridgewood. | Dan Luedert~Sun-Times Media
Updated: June 4, 2012 10:57AM
After some tough going, Elmwood Park’s softball team was able to get back into the win column sweeping past archrival Ridgewood in convincing fashion in their pair of games last week. The Tigers bested the Rebels 11-0 at home and 27-6 on the road.
“A couple of no-doubters are always good,” said Elmwood Park head coach Brad Reynard. “We had two nice games during prom week, which is a crazy time. We did what we had to do.”
Junior Gabby Uvelli started and earned the win in each of the games. She went five innings, striking out seven and allowing just two hits on the afternoon. Senior Catherine Conte went 2-for-3 and drove in four runs while classmate Katelyn Jakobsen was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and one batted in as did freshman Abby Bitterman. Sophomore Becky Gruber was 1-for-1 with a pair of walks, scoring three times and driving in two other runs.
More offense was in order April 26 for the Tigers as they scored 27 times in the shortened game. Gruber went 2-for-2 with three runs scored while junior Isaly Roman went 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored and two runs batted in. Jakobsen hit a two-run homer in the second inning, finishing with a pair of runs scored and three RBI overall. Freshman call-up Morgan Schlanger hit a grand slam down the right-field line for her only hit of the game.
Uvelli started and got the win, going three innings. Only two of the six runs that scored on her were earned. Sophomore Nicole DiGiovanni was as good as can be, striking out all nine batters she faced in her three innings of work.
Not all the news from last week was good for the Tigers as junior short stop Olga Lipiszko broke her right wrist in practice ruling her out for as many as 12 weeks, ending her junior season. They were practicing stolen-base coverage, and her right hand was in her glove when the ball got there. At first it was thought that maybe there was just some damage to the pinky finger, but X-rays revealed the wrist fracture. She had just recovered from dealing with gout issues, so it’s a significant blow, but they’ve had to get by without her for parts of this season already, so Reynard knows all about shuffling the defense.
“She had just gotten back and started feeling good on her feet, but it’s just a freak injury,” Reynard said. “She’s a tough kid, but as soon as it hit, I saw she welled up, and I just knew it wasn’t good. I hate to lose any kids, and she’s a solid infielder. She’s young and pretty healthy so I’m sure she’ll heal rather quickly. I just hope she doesn’t miss her whole summer. I know how disappointed she is. We’ll try to find the best combination, but I hope we hit the heck out of the ball and outscore some teams.”
He has put Schlanger at short as she showed to be one of the most athletic players in the program during tryouts. Reynard elected to leave her with the sophomore team to work on her pitching a bit more. He’s moved Gruber to short and played Roman at third, putting sophomore Shannon Hodges at second. He may also put Schlanger at second or freshman Casey Parker.
