Huntley Softball Swept in Doubleheader

Huntley’s softball team kicked off their 2011 campaign Saturday with a non-conference doubleheader in sun-splashed Batavia.

While the Red Raiders’ offense was ready to go, so was the Bulldogs as Batavia swept the twin bill with a 7-6 win in eight innings in game one and another 7-6 win in the second game. In the first game, Huntley (0-2) got on the board in the opening inning as Brittany Koss reached on an error and a bunt by Tyra Lycos were thrown away by pitcher Katie Neubauer, which allowed Koss to score all the way from first. Kelsey Hagan then added a RBI groundout to give the Red Raiders a 2-0 lead.

After Batavia scored once in the bottom of the first, Huntley added runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Nikki DeMarco led off the fourth with a double and followed by a RBI double from Angela Tribuzio. In the fifth, Hagan doubled with one hit and scored later in the inning on an error to take a 4-1 advantage. Batavia scored in the fifth and added two more runs in the sixth innings to tie the game at 4, which is where the game stayed into extra innings.

In the eighth, Koss singled in Tribuzio, who led off the inning with a walk and Lycos followed with a sacrifice fly to score Karlie Swanson, who had reached on an error to give Huntley a 6-4 lead going to the bottom of the inning.

Huntley couldn’t hold on to the lead however as Batavia’s Katie Coleman started the eighth with a triple and scored on an error by Aryana Burgos, which allowed Lindsay McEachern to reach. Katie Ryan followed two batters later with a game-tying RBI triple and Neubauer atoned for her three errors with a single to right to score Ryan with the winning run. Huntley coach Mark Petryniec said that a few pitches in the wrong spots in the eighth cost his team the first game.

“Taylor missed her location on a couple and their hitters made us pay,” Petryniec said. “Hats off to their hitters, very solid hitting team today."

In the nightcap, Huntley once again scored first as Miranda Peterson hit a sacrifice fly to score Koss to give the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead. Batavia answered with a three-run homer by Christine Lynam and added another run in the second inning for a 4-1 lead. Just like Batavia did in the first game, Huntley rallied from three runs down and scored five times in the fourth inning with all the runs coming with two outs.

A RBI double by Tribuzio scored Taylor Larson followed by a RBI single by Katherine Hackett to score Tribuzio. Koss added an RBI single to score Hackett and Lycos finished the rally with a two-run single to score Burgos and Koss to give Huntley a 6-4 lead. Batavia scored once in the fourth to make it 6-5 and Lynam’s second home run of the game tied the game at 6 in the fifth before Brooke Nelson scored the winning run later in the inning to give Batavia a 7-6 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Petryniec added that it was a tough way to start the season.

“I was pretty happy with the way we put the bat on the ball especially in the first game,” Petryniec said. “We have been limited with how much we have been outside. Even at this point of the season, you can’t make that many errors and expect to win a game, let alone play two one-run games.”

Koss ended the day going 4 for 8 on the afternoon, scoring three times while Tribuzio scored twice, doubled twice and had two RBIs.