Softball: Chloe Mitchell pitches La Salle-Peru to 6-0 win over rival Ottawa

OTTAWA – The La Salle-Peru softball team jumped out to a quick lead over rival Ottawa on Friday afternoon, and it turned out to be all starting pitcher Chloe Mitchell needed.

Cavaliers leadoff hitter Addie Duttlinger reached on a two-base error and scored when Taylor Martyn followed with a double off Pirates pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi, then scored herself after a pair of pitches reached the backstop.

Mitchell, who scattered seven hits, worked out of jams in three innings and struck out 10. The senior was solid throughout to help her team in a 6-0 Interstate 8 Conference victory over the Pirates.

“Getting those two runs right off the bat took so much weight off my shoulders,” Mitchell said. “Knowing I was going out to start the game with a little bit of a cushion took any stress I had away.”

L-P, which has now won 10 straight games, improved to 12-1 overall and 4-0 in league play. Ottawa had its five-game winning streak snapped in falling to 10-4 and 4-1.

[Chloe Mitchell] stays so even keel. It’s nearly impossible to get her rattled. The couple of innings Ottawa threatened, she didn’t panic, but did the things she needed to do to get out of it.”

—  Randy Huebbe, La Salle-Peru coach

The Cavs added a run in the third when Martyn tripled to the base of the fence in center and scored on a groundout by Ava Lannen.

In the fifth, Duttlinger tripled down the right field line and scored on a passed ball.

Then in the seventh, Kelsey Frederick singled, stole both second and third before scoring on another groundout by Lannen. Martyn, who had walked, later scored on an errant pitch.

“I think our girls really gained so much confidence at the plate from our trip last weekend in Florida,” L-P coach Randy Huebbe said. “We faced some really good pitching down there and really hit the ball well in every game. I think many of the girls have learned that they can just take a nice easy swing and still hit the ball hard.

“The last handful of games they have all made an effort to cut down on their swings and put the ball in play. Eva Lannen did that twice to today, a couple of groundouts to short that turned into runs. That’s what we want.

“[Chloe] stays so even keel. It’s nearly impossible to get her rattled. The couple of innings Ottawa threatened, she didn’t panic, but did the things she needed to do to get out of it. She pitched a very outstanding game for us today.”

Ottawa had chances to break through, loading the bases with one out in the fourth after singles from Kendall Lowery and Aubrey Sullivan, but Mitchell struck out the next two hitters.

In the fifth, Ryleigh Stehl smacked a two-out triple but was stranded, and in the sixth, consecutive base hits by Sullivan and Brynne Sember and a passed ball preceded another pair of strikeouts by Mitchell to end the would-be rally.

“When I get into a tough spot like I did those three innings I really look to use my riseball, it’s my better pitch,” Mitchell said. “Batters tend to pop it up or swing through it, but I’m not really looking to get strikeouts with it, I’m just looking to get an out anyway I can.”

Oslanzi, who posted two singles and walked twice at the plate, took the loss (7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 12) for the hosts.

“We just left too many runners on base and just couldn’t get that hit to push one across and hopefully put a big inning together,” Ottawa coach Adam Lewis. “When L-P got a runner on they got her moved some way, somehow, but when we were able to get runners on we struck out. We also made some mistakes in the field that came back to bite us.

“Some of today at the plate was a lack of competitiveness from us and some of it was Chloe just being Chloe. She’s a fantastic pitcher that gets a lot of swings and misses and she got them when she needed them today. Knowing her riseball is coming and hitting it or laying off of it are two different things.”

L-P is scheduled at a tournament in Woodstock on Saturday, while Ottawa is at Morris on Monday.