January 22, 2025
Sports

High school softball: Home runs power Downers Grove South past OPRF

By DAVE OWEN

Downers Grove South senior Caroline Hedgcock makes contact with the ball for a single on April 15 in a game against Oak Park- River Forest. The Mustangs topped OPRF but suffered their first losses of the season on April 16. (David Toney)

DOWNERS GROVE – Facing three strong opponents in less than 24 hours produced a roller-coaster ride of results for Downers Grove South’s softball team.

Losses against Lockport and Peotone on April 16 ended the Mustangs’ season-opening nine-game winning streak, but the team’s upside was on display the previous day against 2015 Class 4A third-place finisher Oak Park-River Forest.

Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning and limited by ace OPRF pitcher Chardonnay Harris (15 strikeouts), the Mustangs broke through.

After a leadoff double by Kristin Lea and an intentional walk to Caroline Hedgcock, Nicole Bowman drove a 1-2 pitch over the right-center fence to put the Mustangs up 4-1.

Bowman’s blast came after strikeouts in her first two at-bats.

“I was talking to other players, especially Caroline, and a lot of the pitches were more deep and you needed to back up off the plate,” Bowman said. “My first two at-bats I was more up in the plate, and then the third at-bat I stepped back.

“She [Harris] was a really good pitcher,” Bowman added. “She had a lot of good movement and worked the corners of the plate. We just had to watch it in, see it and work on the timing of the foul balls. And we finally caught one.”

DGS pitcher Payton Buresch [three-hitter with eight strikeouts] sealed the win by retiring the Huskies in order in the seventh.

Hedgcock’s tape measure solo home run to right field put the Mustangs (9-2) ahead 1-0 in the fourth.

Lindsey Herrmann (2 for 3) had the other Mustang hits, upping her average to .450 this season.

“We weren’t hitting,” Downers South coach Ron Havelka said. “We struck out 14 or 15 times, which is very unusual, and we didn’t make many adjustments up there and didn’t look very good. But we made the plays in the field.

“Our second baseman [Kristen Bialek] had like seven balls hit to her and made a couple nice plays, and we had big hits when they counted. Hedgcock has been on fire, and Bowman got a hold of a high riseball.”

On April 16, late-inning heroics in each game weren’t enough.

A four-run sixth inning against Lockport rallied the Mustangs to within 5-4, but the host Porters answered in the bottom of the frame to win 9-4. Hedgcock (3 for 3 with two doubles), Herrmann (3 for 4) and Rebecca Bluder (home run) led the offense.

A 4-2 loss to defending Class 3A quarterfinalist Peotone featured back-to-back sixth-inning home runs by Hedgcock, her fifth homer this season, and Megan Lobianco.

The Mustangs had been soaring, preceding the OPRF win with an undefeated three-game run against top competition on a late March trip to Florida.

“That [trip] tremendously helped us,” Bowman said. “Our conference usually isn’t the best, so we kind of deal with that and then regionals and sectionals pick up. We saw college pitchers in Florida, and that really helped us get good timing on the ball.”

“We played so well in Florida against good teams,” Havelka said.

Hedgcock has been unable to pitch of late while dealing with a hip injury, but the Mustangs are avoiding excuses or cliche explanations.

“Hopefully that was a one-day shot,” Havelka said of the April 16 losses, which matched the Mustangs’ entire 2015 total. “But I hate to use the ‘wake -up call’ scenario. You can’t choose what teams you’re up for or not up for. We have to be more consistent.”

Downers Grove North softball

Savannah Rodriguez scattered six hits over seven innings, but the Trojans lost 4-0 against Plainfield East on April 13 in a game that ended a 12-day layoff. Rodriguez struck out eight and walked none, allowing just three earned runs.

Rodriguez and Katie Polaski each collected a hit as North’s record slipped to 4-2 on the season.