Sports
Softball: Minooka Heats Up Offense, Defeats Plainfield South
Minooka 11, Plainfield South 2: Five-run fourth inning is catalyst for Indians' victory.
It took a while, but Minooka finally broke through on offense against Plainfield South, routing the hapless Cougars 11-2 on Thursday.
“I was shocked,” Indians coach Mark Brown said of his offense. “We popped two homers with the wind blowing in and I thought we could have gotten two or three more today.”
The Cougars (2-7, 0-4) drew first blood against the Indians (10-4, 4-0), scoring on an error by shortstop Sara Novak and an RBI grounder by catcher Kayla Kendall in the top of the first.
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Starting pitcher Payton Laczynski wasn’t 100 percent going into the game and struggled with her control for the first three innings, giving up two walks and hitting a batter.
Minooka's offense had its own struggles driving in runners in the early going. The Indians had six hits off starter Rachel Mickow, but only one run—a solo home run by Mikayla Malone in the second. They left six runners on base for the first three innings.
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“In our losses we averaged eight runners left on base,” Brown said. “I was worried that it was going to be one of those games.”
The Indians' offense finally put it together in the bottom of the fourth after a one-out double by right fielder Taylor Edwards. Minooka then strung together five consecutive hits, leading to five runs including a three-run homer by second baseman Lindsey Fenner.
“The three-run homer kind of took the wind out of our sails,” Plainfield South coach Tara Singler said. “We played really well for the first three innings, but it felt like a tale of two games.”
The Indians continued the offensive attack in the fifth and sixth, adding two and three runs, respectively. The Cougars had no response on offense as Laczynski no-hit them for the final 3 2/3 innings. Minooka finished with 16 hits and every starter had at least one.
As a reward, Brown gave his team the next three days off, which delighted the seniors because the school’s prom is Saturday.
“We got seven seniors on the squad and they’re really looking forward to it,” Brown said.
