St. Charles East (3-8, 0-1) gave the Daily Herald’s No. 3-ranked Lake Park Lancers a long battle but ultimately came up on the short end of a 5-4 score softball Wednesday in St. Charles.
St. Charles East’s Michelle Snyder took the tough loss. She pitched all nine innings, throwing 155 pitches. She allowed 4 hits, 3 earned runs and struck out three.
Saints coach Eric Ray marveled at Snyder’s performance.
“A lot of heart,” Ray said. “A lot of heart.”
The Lancers (8-1, 3-0) got the early lead by manufacturing a run. Lynsey Ciezki led off the game with a double, advanced to third on a bunt and scored on a groundout. Another run came in on an error and Lake Park led 2-0.
“We always want to score first so we can put pressure on the other team,” said Lake Park coach Cray Allen.
Meanwhile, pitcher Ashley Havertine was having little trouble with the Saints offense. She closed out three of her first five innings by throwing 10 or less pitches.
In the sixth inning, however, Allen lifted Havertine for a reliever.
“Some of our pitchers haven’t gotten much work lately,” Allen said. “I wanted to get both our pitchers some work before we play the tournament in Ohio this weekend.”
All of a sudden the Saints offense came to life. Julie Yonkus and Snyder both knocked RBI doubles to bring the Saints within 3-2.
With runners on second and third, Havertine came back in to pitch. She promptly threw a wild pitch that allowed two runners to cross the plate, giving St. Charles East a 4-3 lead. The Saints were three outs away from an upset win.
But Lake Park had other ideas.
The first two Lancers got on base in the seventh. After Snyder got two outs, an error allowed the tying run to cross the plate.
After a scoreless eighth the Lancers utilized similar tactics that they used to score in the first. Ciezki got on base with an infield single and moved to second on a bunt.
With two outs Stephanie Blagaich lofted a ball that landed in a perfect spot between the second baseman, shortstop and center fielder, bringing Ciezki home.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play with two outs and advance the runner,” Blagaich said.
Blagaich then walked to the mound and struck out the side to end the game.
Despite the disappointing finish, Ray saw this game a step in the right direction for his squad.
“If we can continue to play like that day in and day out, we’re going to do some good things,” Ray said.
— Adam Bartolo
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