Sports
Lisle High School Softball, Baseball Insider: Exclusively on Lisle Patch
Each week throughout the remainder of the season, Lisle Patch will be bringing you highlights from last week's games, a look at this week's contests, hitting and pitching leaders and comments from the softball and baseball coaches at Lisle High School.
Lisle softball team
Record: (through Monday, April 25) 11-1 overall, 3-1 in the Interstate Eight North Division.
This week’s schedule: (all games start at 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise indicated; all home games are played at Lisle Field No. 5):
Wednesday, April 27: vs. Manteno (makeup game from April 8)
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Thursday, April 28: vs. Rosary, 4 p.m. (makeup game from March 23)
Friday, April 29: vs. Herscher
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Last week: The Lions achieved one of their regular-season team goals in convincing fashion last Saturday by winning the Byron tournament. Lisle, which won each of its three games at the tourney by shutout, got stellar pitching from seniors Bekka Houda and Melanie Early. Houda struck out seven and tossed a no-hitter as the Lions defeated Geneva, 1-0 (it was her first no-hitter of the season). She also pitched a shutout and fanned nine in Lisle’s 6-0 triumph over the host school. Meanwhile, Early scattered four hits as the Lions blanked Rochelle, 2-0.
At the plate: Early is hitting .595 for the season, while junior Mackenzie Buchelt sports a .463 average. Freshman Summer Stitt is hitting .421. Early went 3-for-3 against Byron with a triple and an RBI. Buchelt also was 2-for-2.
On the mound: Houda is 7-0 for the year with 81 strikeouts and a 1.06 ERA. Early has an ERA of 0.28 with 27 strikeouts and a 3-1 record.
Injury report: Junior outfielder Julia Reed, who broke her leg at the beginning of the season, will not see action the rest of the year. There are no other injuries to report.
Quoting coach Jen Pomatto:
On last week’s play: “Our pitching did well and we played great defensively. We were not able to play a lot (last week) after all the rain. I didn’t think we’d be able to play that (Byron) tournament. Three shutouts in one day is really good. Our pitching was fantastic.”
On this week’s schedule: “Our main focus is one game at a time. We’re coming off a weekend where we really played well. I’ve always told the girls that anybody can be beaten on any given day, so we want them to be ready at all times. Being 3-1 (in conference) and doing as well as we are, we have a target on us and we have to be ready no matter who we’re playing.”
On the weather: “We’d like to continue playing (this week), but we can’t control the weather. If we can’t play and we have practice, there are things that we can work on, but if we can play we’ll be excited.”
Lisle baseball
Record: (through Monday, April 25) 13-5 overall, 3-2 in the Interstate Eight North Division.
This week’s schedule: (all games start at 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise indicated; all home games are played at Lisle Field No. 7):
Wednesday, April 27: vs. Manteno (makeup game from April 8); Friday, April 29: vs. Herscher
Saturday, April 30: at Wheaton Academy, 10 a.m.
Last week (through Monday): Like every baseball and softball team in the area, Mother Nature has been reeking havoc on the Lions’ schedule. A makeup doubleheader with Seneca was on tap for last Friday, but rain washed that out. Lisle hoped to make up those games on Saturday since it had an open date; Seneca, however, couldn’t reschedule. The previous weekend, Lisle had its two-day tournament washed out because of rain. The Lions did pick up victories against Elgin St. Edward (2-1) last Wednesday and Dwight (8-7), a member of the I-8 South Division, last Thursday. Senior Kazim Khan recorded victories in both games after coming on in relief. On Monday, the Lions battled back from a 6-2 deficit vs. perennial rival Westmont. They scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but fell just short and lost, 6-5. Khan had two doubles, while Ryan Van Volkenburg, a sophomore, blasted a home run and added a single.
On the mound: In addition to Khan’s two wins in relief, sophomore Alex Ventrella started in the victory over St. Edward and struck out 14.
At the plate: Ryan Burilson, a senior, was the hero in the Lions’ come-from-behind triumph over Dwight as he belted a walk-off grand slam homer. Van Volkenburg has consistently registered multi-hit games for the Lions throughout the season. Juniors Nick Olson (3-for-3 against Dwight) and Ty Howell also have come on of late offensively.
Injury report: No injuries.
Quoting coach Pete Meyer:
On wanting his team to be more consistent at bat: “At the beginning of the year we were getting two-out hit after two-out hit, but we’re not doing that on a regular basis (right now). Our pitchers aren’t dominating anybody, but they’ve been keeping us in every game. We’ve been able to sneak out some wins with our pitching. We had a breakdown in pitching for the first time on Monday. If our pitching isn’t up to snuff, we’re going to be in trouble because we’re not getting those timely hits.”
On how the team has been playing lately: “We’re kind of up and down right now. We’ve been winning, but we’re not playing up to mine or the team’s expectations. We’re just kind of stuck in a lull. We’re 13-5 overall and that sounds like a good record, but we should be better than we are and the kids feel the same way.”
On this week’s schedule: “We’re going to be playing some good teams coming up. With all this rain, the games are getting bunched up. It’s a challenge, but if we’re able to throw strikes and play defense and get some timely hits, we’ll be fine. We’ve got to put all three aspects together and we’ll be all right.”
