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  Softball starts season undefeated

    By Jared Bell
   
IV Leader Sports Editor


    While most students were doing a variety of different things over Spring Break, the softball team was busying doing what they have done a lot lately: winning.
    After a 7-0 start to last season, the team went 3-0 on their annual March trip, backed by a solid pitching effort and more than enough offense.
    “We started the season very well; much better than what we thought we were going to see out of our players,” softball coach Cory Tomasson said.
    The star of the trip may have been the pitching staff. Ace Amy Abbott allowed only two runs in her 12 innings (1.17 ERA), while holding opponents to a .195 batting average as she picked up a pair of wins.
    “She’s hitting her spots, her pitches are working for her and she is getting more aggressive with her pitches,” Tomasson said of the sophomore. “She’s really throwing well.”
    Fellow sophomore Jessica Politsch was even better as she did not allow a single run in her eight innings in the circle as she picked up the other victory. She held opponents to a .120 team batting average.
    “Once she finds her groveand she gets more comfortable, she’s been hitting her spots,” Tomasson said. “She threw really well and if she can keep that up throughout the year, we should do well pitching wise.”
    Sophomores Cassie Kelley and Kalie Judge led the team offensively as each batted over .500 on the trip.
Kelley was 4-for-7 (.571) and scored four runs, while Judge finished 5-for-9 (.556) on the trip, scored five runs and drew three walks.
    Sophomore Stephanie Prokup and freshman Amanda Gargantiel turned in solid performances as each went 4-for-9 on the trip.
Amber Pescitelli went 2-for-5 on the trip with a double and a run scored. Jessica Politsch’s double was the only other extra-base hit on the trip.
    For the entire trip, the team batted .375 (30-for-80) and scored 26 runs.
    The team started their trip with a pair of exhibition games against four-year colleges. The team dropped both of those contests, with the first defeat coming to Grove City College from Pennsylvania.
    In the season-opener, nerves were an even bigger factor than the opponent as first-game jitters caused numerous miscues that resulted in some costly unearned runs.
    “Our players were really nervous,” Tomasson said. “They were really nervous and you could see that in the errors that we made. I think we had four or five errors. It wasn’t any environmental things; they just had to settle down.”
    With the nerves settled, the team played much improved ball in their second contest against Adrian College, which is a four-year school from Michigan. The team dropped the game 2-1 but not without some dramatics. The game-changing play came when Washeleski smoked a bullet up the middle, but the Adrian pitcher luckily grabbed the ball out of midair, saving two runs and ultimately the game.
    “That was a good showing for us,” Tomasson said. “We weren’t as nervous.”
    With the two unofficial games out of the way, the team took care of business in their third game of the trip as they rolled to a 19-1 win over Monroe College from New York State.
    The started a little slow offensively but scored 13 runs in the fourth inning and never looked back. Every player who played in the game recorded a hit or scored a run, while Abbott controlled the game on the rubber.
    “The first inning we were shaky, but after that we just tore runs off,” Tomasson said. “Anything (our hitters) touched was a hit. They didn’t have a lot of errors on their team — in fact they only had two errors — but we just played well. The players had good eyes at bat and they took a lot of walks. They did a great job of being patient and settling down. You could just see the nerves settling down.”
    Tomasson said one of the reasons the team prevailed was due to their stellar defensive work.
    “We actually had no errors that game, which for us was amazing,” Tomasson said. “They hit the ball, but we did a really good job of fielding in that game.”
    The team ended their trip with a pair of wins as they swept a doubleheader against Penn State Hazleton.
    The team walked away with a 5-1 win in the first game, backed by a strong outing from Abbott as she allowed one run.
    “(Amy) just dominated that game,” Tomasson said. “She looked good.
    Politsch delivered a shutout in the second game as IVCC won 3-0 to improve to 3-0 on the year. In the game, Hazleton on registered three hits in seven innings against Politsch while the team mustered up enough offense.
    The team travels March 23 to Sauk Valley and hits the road again March 28 for a match-up against Carl Sandburg.
    The team’s next home contest is March 30 against Kishwaukee before another two-game road trip.

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