Beecher sweeps doubleheader from G-SW to open season: Thursday Daily Journal Roundup

Softball

Beecher 7, Gardner-South Wilmington 0: Ava Lorenzatti was dominant in the first game of a road doubleheader on Thursday, recording 17 strikeouts over seven two-hit innings to give the Bobcats a shutout win in their season opener. Mackenzie Johnson led the team offensively, going 4 for 4 with a home run, a double, three RBIs and a run scored. Liliana Irwin was 3 for 4 with an RBI and run while Alexa Gilva was 2 for 2 with an RBI, a run and two steals.

The Panthers fell to 2-1 with the loss. Maddie Simms and Ella Mack recorded the team’s two hits. Simms also worked a walk and pitched all seven innings, allowing four earned runs.

Beecher 10, Gardner-South Wilmington 0: Beecher completed the doubleheader sweep Thursday with another shutout win to open the season 2-0. Taylor Norkus pitched all five innings for Beecher, allowing just one hit and two walks while recording seven strikeouts. Mackenzie Johnson had another multi-hit game, going 2 for 3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs. Ava Olson was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run while Alexa Gilva was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run.

Gardner-South Wilmington got a hit out of Ella Mack while Nina Siano and Lily Buck both had walks. Buck also stole a base.

Grant Park 10, Illinois Lutheran 0: Cheyenne Hayes almost single handedly propelled the Dragons to a win on Thursday at home. She tossed five no-hit innings, recording 11 strikeouts and only two walks, while also going 2 for 3 with a home run, a double, a walk, three RBIs and a run scored. Grant Park improved to 2-3 on the season with the win. Abigail Garcia was 1 for 3 with a home run, three RBIs and a run scored and Lola Malkowski was 1 for 3 with a double, a run and an RBI.

Central 18, Momence 4: The Comets stayed busy Thursday, playing their seventh game of the young season and improving to 4-3 on the year with a road win. Rayven Perkins was 2 for 3 with four RBIs and three runs for Central. Emily Ponton was 2 for 4 with three RBIs and a run while Keira Donnelly was o for 2 but had two walks, two RBIs, three runs and two stolen bases. Ponton also pitched all five innings for the Comets, allowing six hits and recording six strikeouts.

Momence fell to 0-2 with the loss, both of which have come to Central. Sydnee Vanswol was 1 for 3 with an RBI while Jada Moss was 1 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored.

Herscher 12, Bismarck-Henning 6: Addy Whitaker had a five-hit day for Herscher on Thursday, helping the Tigers to a road win and improving their record to 4-1 on the season. She was 5 for 5 with a double, three RBIs and three runs. RyLyn Adams was 4 for 4 with a walk, two RBIs and three runs while Keira Ahramovich was 1 for 5 with a two-run home run. Anistin Hackley was 4 for 5 with three RBIs and was also the winning pitcher, throwing three innings and allowing three hits and five runs, four earned. Lilly Tucek pitched the final four innings, allowing four hits and a single unearned run.

Manteno 15, Newark 5: The top of the order had a big afternoon for Manteno on Thursday as the Panthers improved to 3-0 on the season with a home win. Ava Peterson was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run out of the leadoff spot, Alyssa Singleton was 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs out of the two hole and Aubrie Goudreau was 3 for 4 with two RBIs and three runs out of the third spot in the order. Macy Iwanus allowed five runs, three earned, over 4.1 innings while Bella Gigliello retired the final two batters in the five-inning win.

LaSalle-Peru 6, Coal City 3: The Coalers took a loss at home on Thursday to fall to 2-2 on the season. Down 3-0 after the top of the first, the Coalers tied it up with three runs in the bottom of the inning. But LaSalle-Peru went back up for good with three runs in the fourth. Madalyn Petersen was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run for the Coalers. Masyn Kuder was 1 for 3 with an RBI double while also pitching all seven innings, allowing five earned runs while striking out four.

Baseball

Herscher 13, Gardner-South Wilmington 3: The Tigers kept their hot start to the season rolling on Thursday with a six-inning win at home. Herscher improved to 4-1 on the season while Gardner-South Wilmington dropped to 1-4.

Logan Egerton was 3 for 3 with a home run, a double, three RBIs and two runs for Herscher. Tanner Jones went 3 for 4 with a walk, three RBIs and two runs while Gaige Brown was 3 for 4 with a run scored. Cam Baker got the win on the mound, allowing two hits to go with four strikeouts across four shutout innings.

For the Panthers, Cameron Gray was 1 for 4 with a run scored and Brock Enerson was 0 for 2 with a walk, two RBIs and a run. Aiden Himes and Bret Manzello each had a stolen base.

Central 11, Momence 6: Thanks to a big fourth inning, Central picked up a comeback win on the road Thursday to improve to 2-3 on the season. The Comets scored eight runs in the fourth, turning a 5-2 deficit into a 10-5 lead and hand Momence the loss, dropping them to 1-3.

Central had five hits and five walks in the pivotal fourth inning and got a two-run double from Brayden Meents and a two-run single from Derek Meier. That was Meier’s lone hit on the day as he went 1 for 1 with four walks, two RBIs and three runs scored. Meents was 1 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored while Rocco Trevino was 2 for 2 with two walks, two RBIs and a run.

For Momence, Shane Cook was 3 for 3 with a home run, three RBIs and a run scored. Nick Charbonneau was 2 for 4 with an RBI out of the leadoff spot while Brogan Halpin was 2 for 4 with two runs.

Iroquois West 7, Milford 3: Fresh off of their first win of the season, a 24-3 blowout of Blue Ridge, the Raiders picked up a road victory over Milford to improve to 2-2 on the season. Iroquois West leadoff Izzy Alvarez went 2 for 5 with a solo home run and a double. Julian Melgoza was 1 for 4 with an RBI and a run while Caleb Fauser was 2 for 3 with a run.

For Milford (1-2), Halpin was 2 for 2 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run. Aiden Bell and Hixon Lafond were both 2 for 4 in the game with Bell recording an RBI. Beau Wright worked a pair of walks out of the leadoff spot and scored twice.

Grant Park 17, Illinois Lutheran 0: The Dragons picked up their second win of the season on Thursday, both of which have been 17-0 victories over Illinois Lutheran. Thursday’s game was hosted by the Dragons, who improved to 2-2 on the season.

Grant Park needed just three innings to dispatch with the Chargers, scoring 12 runs in the first inning and five in the second on just six total hits. They worked eight walks in the first inning as a team, scoring two of their runs on wild pitches, two more on passed balls and another on a balk. Joey McGinley was 1 for 3 with a double, two walks, three RBIs and three runs. He also got the win, allowing one hit over two shutout innings, striking out four.

Girls Soccer

Reed-Custer 6, Beecher 3: The Comets found the back of the net four times in the second half on Thursday to pick up a win at home, improving to 2-2 on the season while sending Beecher to 0-2. Reed-Custer got a hat trick from Gwen Stewart, two goals from Hailey Compton and one from Aurora Haake. Maggie Dockery made 29 saves for the Comets.

No individual stats were immediately available for Beecher.