Witt Breaks Loose, But Kits Settle For 3-3 Tie

The fact that there’s new artificial turf at the Niles North athletic complex gave Evanston’s softball team a chance to play Thursday when most of the teams in the Chicago area stayed idle due to wet grounds.

It also gave Rosie Witt the opportunity to snap out of a batting slump.

In a game that was shifted from ETHS to Niles North, Witt’s RBI double in the bottom of the 7th inning helped the Wildkits salvage a 3-3 tie in 8 innings with the Vikings in a Central Suburban League crossover matchup.

Witt went 3-for-4 for the Kits, now 1-4-1 overall. The junior outfielder, like most of her teammates, has struggled offensively and Evanston wasted an opportunity to build some momentum coming out of spring break Thursday.

Evanston registered 7 hits as a team but also struck out 11 times against Niles North right-hander Isla Kapelas before she was relieved by another freshman, Lucy Hibicke, with one out in the 7th.

Witt’s clutch double off Hibicke scored teammate Francie Heldt with the tying run and neither team managed to score in the extra inning before the game was called because of darkness.

Evanston head coach Amy Gonzales is trying to solve the offensive puzzle for a team that returned most of its starters from a year ago and figured to benefit from all of that experience at the plate.

It hasn’t happened so far. The Wildkits have only scored 16 runs in 6 games, and half of those came in their only win over Mundelein Carmel. While it might be true that the Kits have already played the toughest opponents on their schedule --- and the Vikings, despite their overall youth, could wind up being the class of the CSL North division this spring --- the lack of offense has overshadowed Evanston’s spotty pitching to date.

“I wish I had the answers. I’m still trying to figure it out,” Gonzales said. “We do strike out a lot and we don’t walk very much. We’re just not putting the pieces together.

“We had one good inning and that double by Delila Liston (knocking in two runs in the 3rd inning) was a huge momentum boost for us. But we needed to string together five or six hits in a row, not just one or two, to keep that momentum going. We need to be more relaxed, just play the game and do what we can do.

“I thought Rosie did a good job today at the plate. She’s been a little frustrated and a little stressed, and she’s been up and down so far this year. It was really good to see her hit the ball hard and make good contact every time up today.”

Consecutive singles by Natalie Lundgren and Witt with one out in the 3rd set the stage for Liston, who doubled off the temporary fence in center to plate both runners. A walk to Serafina Goodwill followed, but the rally died there when Kapelas struck out Sophie Berger-White and Lexi Lennon to end the inning.

The Kits never got a runner past first base until Kapelas walked Lundgren on a 3-2 pitch and left the circle in favor of Hibicke. Heldt re-entered and stole second base, and scored easily when Witt punched a double to right center.

Liston lined out to left for the second out, Goodwill walked, and Berger-White flied out to center for the third out.

Goodwill went the distance in the circle for the “visitors” and was on the ropes for most of the contest. The Vikings had plenty of traffic on the bases --- they only went down in order once in the 8-inning contest – but scored all three of their runs in the 5th.

Goodwill managed the traffic that included 8 hits, 3 walks, 1 hit batter and 3 ETHS errors until her own throwing error on a bunt opened the door for the Vikes in the 5th. Charlotte Williams, a freshman batting 9th in the order, lined a home run over the right field fence to pull North even at 2-2.

One out later, Amaya Kang and Hibicke hit back-to-back doubles to send North ahead 3-2.