Riverside B. 11 18
Trinity 5 4
Like many local teams, the Trinity softball schedule is currently jam-packed as the Blazers try to fit in games postponed earlier this season due to poor weather.
Last week started out just fine for Trinity (11-5, 4-2) with two conference wins. The Blazers defeated Mother McAuley 5-4 and St. Ignatius 10-0 in five innings. A big crowd watched Trinity defeat its Class 3A rivals Elmwood Park 5-2 on Friday night under the lights. But Saturday’s doubleheader against the Bulldogs of Riverside Brookfield (12-3) at Triton College saw everything sour for the Blazers.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Bulldogs scored five runs in the top of the second and then four more in the fourth inning to go up 9-0 on the Blazers. Trinity got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. Singles by Laura Eichenold, Vivi Castellanos and Emily Landa set the stage for senior Lauren Wambach’s RBI single. Annalis Matta hit a timely triple to bring in three more runs. Annie Logisz also tripled in the next inning and Castellanos singled her in. But the Bulldogs halted any chance of a reprisal with two more insurance runs in the last inning.
The second game did not begin well for Trinity. Riverside Brookfield scored eight runs in the top of the first inning to put the Blazers clearly behind the eight ball. Trinity counted with four runs in the bottom of the first, but that was it for the game.
The third inning was highlighted by a two-run homer by Lindsay Hayes, her second of the day for RB, who closed out the win in five innings.
Trinity coach Bob Osborne stayed upbeat after the losses. “You learn from these games, and they’re a good team,” he said of RB. “We know we’re better than that. We expect to go 6-0 next week. If we do that, we did our job and we set ourselves up for the sectionals.”
Logisz finished 2-for-3 in the second game with four stolen bases.
“Coach set a goal for us on base stealing and every game, Mimi [Ramirez] and I try to reach it, but I guess that was all we could do today,” said the junior centerfielder after the game.
Friday night’s win against the Elmwood Park Tigers finished with a flourish when freshman Erin Balwin completed an unassisted double play.
“I was excited,” she said of the play. “We rotate in at first base and I was happy to make the play.”
Pitcher Emma-Leigh Strock is now 9-4 on the season for Trinity. She had some gutsy play against the Tigers, pitching out of a jam in the fifth inning.
“I try not to feel the pressure because I know my team is behind me,” said Strock, who had five strikeouts in the win.
Trinity welcomes Walther Lutheran to Triton College on Friday (4 p.m.) and Regina on Saturday for a doubleheader on Senior Day. Game 1 begins at 11 a.m.