Softball: Paige Marks, Earlville brave wind, top Somonauk/HBR-Leland co-op

SOMONAUK – Not many softball pitchers would relish throwing in the circle with 40 to 50 mph winds gusting around them.

But Earlville senior Paige Marks seemed unfazed, having to endure the incredibly blustery scenario Thursday afternoon as she stepped into the circle for the Raiders’ Little Ten Conference opener against the newly minted co-op of Somonauk, Hinckley-Big Rock and Leland high schools.

Ultimately, Marks put Mother Nature’s wrath out of her mind and produced a pitching gem, posting 12 strikeouts while allowing only two hits as Earlville rode her effort to a 7-1 victory on the wind-swept field in Somonauk.

“It was really tough at first, and I had to work my way through and find the strike zone pitching against the huge wind,” Marks said, “but I found a way to make it work today, even though it was maybe the craziest wind weather I’ve ever pitched in.”

Earlville (4-3, 1-0 LTC) also received some solid offensive performances from senior Elizabeth Browder, who recorded three hits (two doubles) and three RBIs along with three hits from senior Hailey Kuter and two hits apiece from senior Brynn Guelde (two RBIs) and sophomore Madyson Olson (RBI).

But it was Mark’s pitching prowess that really made EHS coach Shannon Cook take notice.

“Paige is a little workhorse who has been pitching like this ever since she was a freshman, and today, in this crazy wind, she was just amazing,” Cook said. “To strike out 12 and allow only two hits in these type of conditions was incredible. And I’m so proud of her for performing so well, as I am the rest of the girls for picking up our first conference win of the season.”

Marks helped her own cause at the plate when she stroked a lead-off single on the second pitch of the game against the Bobcats starting and losing pitcher Morgan Potter (7 IP, 5 ER, 8 K, 1 BB).

Marks then stole second base and eventually scored on Browder’s laser beam single to center to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead after a half an inning.

Earlville went up 2-0 in the second when Kuter led off with a base hit to right, reached second on an error, progressed to third one out later and scored on Guelde’s infield hit.

Sophomore Emily Harness opened the Raiders’ third with a walk and one out later scored on Browder’s first double to the gap in right center, making it 3-0.

Browder sparked a two-run fifth with her second RBI double along with senior Alexis Olson’s run-scoring infield hit to give the Raiders a 5-0 lead.

“We’ve really been working a lot in practice at hitting so going into today, I was just trying to apply the corrections that’ve been given to me,” Browder said. “It worked and I’m pretty proud of what I did at the plate today.”

The Bobcats (3-4, 2-3) finally got to Marks in the home fifth after freshman Bre VerCautren started things with a walk, stole second, and reached third on a passed ball. She then tallied on an RBI groundout by sophomore Haley McCoy to cut Earlville’s lead to 5-1 after five frames.

But the Raiders added single runs in the sixth, on an RBI base hit from Madyson Olson, and then in the seventh on an RBI single by Guelde that helped close out the Earlville triumph.

The Bobcat’s only hits came from sophomores Lily Day and Taylor Johnson.

“We’re a very young team with only two seniors and the rest are just sophomores and freshmen,” Bobcats first-year coach Hannah Bazan said. “To go against a senior who’s a very experienced pitcher was tough today for us, but I was proud we hung in there and I know we’ll improve as the year goes forward.”