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Softball: Tigers rebound after two shutout losses
Elmwood Park's Morgan Schlanger waits to catch a pop-up, during a game against Glenbard South. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: June 18, 2012 8:43AM
Sometimes it takes a few hard knocks to learn important lessons.
Elmwood Park’s softball team took a few lumps against Metro Suburban Conference rival Glenbard South last week as the Tigers were shut out at home 8-0 on May 8, and 3-0 on the road the following day. They followed that up with a pair of wins at Illiana on Saturday to finish the week with a split.
“We only managed two hits (in the second game), so we weren’t getting very good passes, and we didn’t have many people on base,” said Elmwood Park head coach Brad Reynard. “Their pitcher was solid, but Gabby (Uvelli) matched her.”
Glenbard South scored first in the second game on a close play at home and held that slim one-run lead into the sixth. The Raiders added to the lead with a two-run homer on the only mistake Uvelli made all day.
The Tigers (13-13, 6-4) recovered in time to earn two wins at Illiana on Saturday. The opener was the continuation of a game suspended due to lightning at home on May 3. The game was tied at 2, heading into the bottom of the seventh. The Tigers finally broke through with two outs when freshman Arianna Kelley doubled home senior Catherine Conte, who reached on a one-out error and stole second before scoring the winning run.
While that game ended, the rally didn’t as the Tigers continued hitting in the top of the first, scoring four times en route to a 12-2 victory in five innings to complete the sweep. They kept the offense going with three runs in the second and five more in the third.
Uvelli (10-9) allowed three hits and no earned runs in her three innings of work to secure the victory. Senior Katelyn Jakobsen saw her first action in the circle, finishing the final two innings of the contest. Jakobsen also went 2-for-4 with three RBI and scored twice. Freshman Morgan Schlanger had a hit with two RBI, while Conte went 2-for-4 with a run driven in and three runs scored while Kelley was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI. Having Jakobsen back available to pitch was a boon to the team with sophomore Nicole DiGiovanni out because of illness.
“Every game like that for a young team is good experience any time you face pitcher like that,” Reynard said of the games against Glenbard South. “I think it did help us wake up our bats for Illiana. Nicole is on meds, so we’re going to do what we’ve done all year: rely on Gabby, but Jakobsen is definitely another arm we can use.”
