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CRYSTAL LAKE – Crystal Lake Central’s Megan Mahaffy doesn’t think of herself as a strikeout pitcher.
“I told her she better start,” Jim Judson, Mahaffy’s grandfather, joked after she tied a career high with 17 strikeouts against crosstown rival Crystal Lake South on Wednesday.
Mahaffy struck out the side in the first three innings, striking out multiple Gators in all but one inning en route to a 7-0 Fox Valley Conference crossover victory for the host Tigers.
The senior pitcher allowed just four hits while walking one in seven innings to earn the complete-game shutout, helping snap a three-game losing streak for Central (11-6).
Her previous high this season was 15 strikeouts against Marian Central, but that was over eight innings.
“Really, everything was working,” said Mahaffy, who struck out the side in the first inning on 12 pitches. “I was trying to mix it up and keep the hitters off balance. We were really trying to get the momentum going this game. We had kind of three really rough games, me personally, and as a team we didn’t do so hot.”
The Gators (11-7) reached base five times against Mahaffy, but were unable to put together any real scoring threats as she kept them guessing with a mixture of fastballs and changeups.
“She was in command most of the time,” Tigers coach Brian Strombom said. “South’s a team, most of the time they’re going to try and swing their way on and Megan was up to the task. I didn’t see many hitters feeling all that comfy today. She was hitting the glove all the time.”
South’s Lauren Gauger walked and reached second base after a single by Hailee Massie in the top of the fifth inning, but Mahaffy struck out the final three batters to end the inning.
“We got away with what we wanted to do,” Gators coach Scott Busam said. “We just needed to stay back more. Girls get excited because she throws so hard and a lot of our batters want to jump out and get the ball. It’s just a matter of letting the ball come in deeper and trusting hand-eye coordination.”
After scoring a run in the first inning, the Tigers scored six in the second. Amy Walsh lined a triple off the fence to score Rachel Kautz and Maddie Helm, followed by a walk and an RBI-single from Mahaffy.
The next batter, Savanah Frank, hit a three-run home run over the left-center field fence, giving Central a 7-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the second. Frank, who finished 2 for 3 with four RBIs, also drove in Walsh with a single in the first inning.
“I think we were having issues hitting the past few games,” said Walsh, who went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. “We really just wanted to focus on making contact and ended up getting some good hits and it just strung together once we got a few.”
South’s Sam Burgard entered in relief for sophomore Hannah Koenig, who was making her first career varsity start, and allowed only two hits in the final 4 2/3 innings.
Along with Massie, Burgard, Taylor Kassel and Brooke Maddox all had singles for South, while Kelly Iwamoto scored a run for Central.
Game ball
Amy Walsh, CL Central, jr., CF
Walsh finished 2 for 4 batting leadoff with two runs scored, ripping a two-run triple off the fence in a six-run second inning for the Tigers.
The Number 17:
Strikeouts for Megan Mahaffy, tying a career high
The Big Play
Savanah Frank hit a three-run home run over the left-center field fence in the bottom of the second, scoring Kelly Iwamoto and Mahaffy, to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
CL Central 7, CL South 0
CL South 000 000 0 – 0 4 3
CL Central 160 000 X – 7 9 0
WP: Megan Mahaffy (7IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 17K). LP: Hannah Koenig (1.1IP, 7H, 7R, 6ER, 1BB, 1K).
Top hitters: CL South – Taylor Kassel 1-3, Sam Burgard 1-3, Brooke Maddox 1-3, Hailee Massie 1-3. CL Central – Savanah Frank 2-3 (HR, 4RBI, R), Amy Walsh 2-4 (3B, 2RBI, 2R), Megan Mahaffy 2-3 (RBI, R), Rachel Kautz 1-3 (R), Maddie Helm 1-3 (R).