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Benet Blanks Geneva in Season Opener
By Darryl Mellema | Daily Herald Correspondent
Published: 3/21/2009 8:02 PM | Updated: 3/21/2009 8:03 PM
For those used to dressing for softball season-openers like they're the Iditarod dog sled race, Saturday's sunny warmth provided the best setting for Geneva's contest with Benet.
Benet starter Meghan Eastman proceeded to pour ice water on the home faithful for the 90-minute contest. Eastman (1-0) allowed only 1 hit and struck out 14 while helping post the Redwings to a 4-0 victory over the Vikings in the first game of 2009 for both teams.
"I think it's a great start," Eastman said. "We still have a few things we can work on. But it's a good starting point."
Eastman only walked 2 in the game and had just one sticky inning. That came in the sixth, when Geneva loaded the bases with two outs before Eastman retired the side.
"I felt pretty good," Eastman said. "I know my teammates are there if I need them. It felt good. The one inning, we just got a little flustered."
Geneva had three baserunners through the first five innings, and none of those reached second. Kelly McCaffrey walked in the second, Deidre Phalon walked in the fourth and Amy Hersheway reached on a dropped third strike in the fifth.
But the Vikings nearly got on the board in the sixth. Danielle Caprile started the rally with a blooper that landed just onto the outfield grass in left field. Caprile stole second and Phalon reached on an infield error. Melissa Barber also reached on a fielder's choice, with Phalon sliding safely into second as the Redwings committed their second error of the inning. Rachel Hunter popped out to end the inning.
"It was nice that we had an inning where we felt like we threatened them a little bit," Geneva coach Greg Dierks said. "We got some baserunners. Melissa Barber came right up and had a nice rip; she fouled the first pitch straight back. Those are the kind of swings I like to see."
Phalon and Hersheway each reached base twice for the Vikings.
Benet got all the runs it needed with a 3-run fourth inning. With one out, Nora McGuire and Shelly Schaeffer reached on back-to-back walks. Allison Staats hit an RBI double and Lindsey Rohan followed with a single to deep right that scored Staats and Schaeffer.
Starts and Rohan each went 2-for-3 in the game.
Benet's other run came in the top of the seventh. Lauren Landowski led off with a single and eventually scored on Courtney Makowski's single to left.
"I told the girls we have a whole week to work on things," Benet coach Jerry Schilf said. "We did some good things out there, but we showed we have some things to work on too. But we have a week to work on things feeling good about ourselves because we won the game."
Vikings Blanked in Softball Season Opener
By JAY SCHWAB – jschwab@kcchronicle.com
FOX VALLEY CHRONICLE – MARCH 22, 2009
The Geneva softball team has its first game out of the way and, though it took a while, its first hits of the season are in the books, too.??Still on the to-do list: scoring a run or two, and recording that first victory. Geneva opened the season on Saturday with a 4-0, non-conference loss to Benet Academy.??The Vikings were handcuffed most of the day by hard-throwing Benet pitcher Meghan Eastman. Geneva failed to register a hit until a looping, single to center by senior Danielle Caprile ignited a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth.??“I think we’ll be a lot better,” Caprile said. “I think it was rough at first, but it is our first game. The more pitching we’ll see, the better we’ll do. I think we’ll be a pretty good hitting team.”??The Vikings trailed, 3-0, when they made their lone push. After Caprile’s single, Deirdre Phalon reached on an error, and cleanup hitter Melissa Barber’s infield single loaded the bases.??But Keating responded by inducing a popout by Rachel Hunter and, after Benet added an unearned run in the top of the seventh, Keating allowed only a walk in the bottom of the seventh before completing the shutout.??“It was nice that we had an inning where at least we felt like we threatened them a little bit, got some baserunners,” Geneva coach Greg Dierks said of the Vikings’ sixth-inning rally.??Eastman struck out 14 Vikings while allowing only two hits in a dominant performance.??“We’ve been taking a lot of live batting practice, but she throws different than our girls do, so it’s a little adjustment for us,” Dierks said.??Eastman showed an occasional inclination to change speeds, but mostly overpowered Geneva in the upper-reaches of the strike zone and higher.??“It was getting really frustrating,” Caprile said. “None of us could hit her riseball.”??Benet coach Jerry Schilf said he has grown to expect Eastman to be in command.??“The only concern I had going into the first game, is she going to have enough strength to pitch seven innings, especially with all the strikeouts,” Schilf said. “She threw a lot of pitches. I’m sure she was well over 100 pitches, which we don’t want her to throw that many pitches, but I expect her to be able to shut another team down to one run or less.”??Geneva’s pitcher, Kristyn Ruitenberg, also threw a solid game except for a rough fourth inning, when Benet scored its first three runs. A pair of consecutive walks with one out started the trouble, and a two-run single from Lindsey Rohan proved difficult to overcome.??Then again, the way Geneva’s offense was operating, Ruitenberg’s margin for error was invisible. Dierks expects better days ahead for his offense.??“I’m hoping from top to bottom we can consistently get the ball in play,” Dierks said. “We didn’t do that in the game today, but we will.”
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