Softball - Spring 2010
Varsity Team
JV Team
Softball Team Splits a Doubleheader with Ridgewood
May 5 & May 8, 2010
It took three games, but the Timothy girls’ softball team finally figured out the Ridgewood Rebels. On a weekday game last Wednesday (May 5th) Timothy travelled to Ridgewood for the first game in the series. After several errors, weak hitting and a scary injury (fortunately that Timothy player is fine and back on the fieldJ), our Trojans went home bruised and defeated, losing 14 to 4.
Saturday, May 8th was a very cold, cloudy and windy day for a doubleheader, but the rains stayed away. Timothy played much better in the first game, but left too many players on base. In the end, the Trojans put 13 players on base, but only 2 made it home. Timothy lost 7 to 2. Janna Strodtman led Timothy going 3 for 4 with a triple. Hope Zigterman and Marisa Voss added two hits each.
The second game was much better for Timothy. The hits came at the right times, the defense played without an error and the pitching was on the mark. When those three things come together you’re going to win most games, as the girls did, by a final score of 10 to 0! Timothy pounded 11 hits, including three by Audie Smith, two by Christina Lemon (including a triple) and three by Hope Zigterman. Marisa Voss pitched a great game getting the win in her first varsity start.
Varsity plays at Illiana on Monday (May 10), and hosts Chicago Christian on Tuesday.
Timothy Softball Gets First Conference Win
4/24/10
Saturday, April 24th marks the first softball win for Timothy in the Metro Suburban Conference. The day started poorly for two reasons. First, the overnight rains left Timothy’s home field unplayable causing us to shift our double-header to Elmwood Park’s field. So much for home field advantage. Second, the Timothy girls came out in the first game and played the absolute worst defense you could imagine. This led to a 15 – 0 miserable defeat. There is nothing positive to report from that game, so let’s move on to game 2.
In game 2, the actual Timothy team showed up ready to play, leading to a 3 – 2 victory! After quickly shutting down Elmwood Park in the top of the first inning, Timothy turned two walks into their first run of the day. Audie Smith’s aggressive lead-off at second base drew the throw of the Elmwood Park catcher – this allowed Kari LeGrand to steal home. Elmwood Park loaded the bases in the second, but Janna Strodtman’s great pitching struck out their leading hitter to end the inning. Janna kept the Elmwood Park batters completely off-balance throughout the game, leading to many ground ball outs.
Both Timothy and Elmwood Park scored a run in the third, so Timothy held a 2 – 1 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th inning. Timothy sophomore Mackenzie Schaeffer was extremely focused on getting a hit – which she did by ripping a double to center field. Later in the inning, the girls manufactured an insurance run with a double steal. After Kacey Wieringa broke for second base drawing the catchers throw, Schaeffer ran home from third just in time to beat the throw back. Things got a little shaky in the top of the 7th, but shortstop Kari LeGrand ran easily 60’ to catch a fly ball in foul ground. Then Christina Lemon grabbed another (one of five!) ground ball at third base and a perfect throw to first secured the win.
The Timothy varsity girls will play their next game Monday at home against Fenton.
Varsity Softball Drops Two at Riverside – Brookfield
4/17/10
After a very close loss at home to Riverside – Brookfield on Wednesday, the R-B squad came out on Saturday (April 17) morning ready to show Timothy how they have earned their 12 and 1 record. R – B put runs on the board in every inning with great hitting throughout the line-up. Timothy earned their lone run in the fourth inning. Kacey Wieringa walked and stole second. She then scored on a hard-hit double by Mackenzie Schaeffer. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the bats going and lost the first game 12 to 1.
The Lady Trojans loosened up right away in the second game and had the bats working. Kacey Wieringa and Janna Strodtman both singled in the first inning, allowing Christina Lemon to hit a three-run blast to right field. We allowed R – B to come back and tie the game, and even though Timothy got the first batter on base in both the 2nd and 4th innings, couldn’t produce any runs. Unfortunately in the bottom of the 4th, R – B hitters got things going and strung together several strong hits. This led to 7 runs in that inning and a 10 to 3 lead for R – B. Our Timothy girls didn’t give up and came right back to score 3 runs in the top of the 5th inning, but we just couldn’t catch up, eventually losing 15 to 8. In that second game, our Timothy girls had 12 hits and scored more runs against R – B than they have allowed all season.
Timothy Varsity Softball loses conference opener
4/14/10
Timothy played our first conference game Wednesday against Riverside Brookfield. We played a solid game, but just couldn’t string our hits together and lost 6 to 1. After giving up 4 runs in the first two innings, Timothy held R-B scoreless for the next four. In the bottom of the sixth inning Timothy scored one run and nearly had more, but a great stop and throw by the R-B shortstop ended the Timothy rally. R-B added 2 more runs in the top of the 7th inning.
Timothy was led by sr. catcher Audie Smith who was 2 for 3 with a double, stolen base and a pick-off of an attempted steal of 2nd base. Five Timothy batters had one or more hits in the game.
Softball Team Marks a Win
4/6/10
Timothy Christian defeated Latin School of Chicago by a score of 5 to 2. Timothy Christian was led by sr. catcher Audie Smith who went 2 for 3 with a double. Audie also contributed on defense by throwing out an attempted steal of 2nd base. Sr. first baseman Ashley Tameling was 1 for 3 with an RBI and three unassisted put-outs. Pitcher Janna Strodtman overpowered Latin School batters, registering 9 strike-outs in the complete game win.
TC is now 2 and 1 on the season. We play our next game Wed, 4/7 at St. Francis in Wheaton.
A Beautiful Day for Two TC Softball Victories
3/23/10
The softball season opened with sunshine and home / away games against cross-town rival IC. The JV team had the defense clicking and controlled the game behind strong pitching from Marisa Vos. After allowing a hit from the first IC batter, Marisa and the strong defense behind her shut down the IC bats. On the offensive side, great hitting from Vos, Jessica Dirkse and others led to a 10 – 0 win in 5 innings.
The varsity team started the season playing the team they ended the season with last year. IC snuck out a victory (1-0) in a regional game last May. This year the lady Trojans weren’t going to let that happen again!
The varsity home game started a little shaky with the first two IC batters reaching base and advancing to second and third. But the defense kicked in and did not allow a run. In the home half of the first inning, the TC bats came out strong. Three hard hit singles and a two-run double from Mackenzie Schaeffer led to a 4 – 0 lead after one inning.
Over the next four innings IC battled back, but Timothy still led 6 – 4. After two quick outs in the 6th, IC’s bats woke up with a single, two run homer, single and a triple resulting in a 7 – 6 lead for IC. To their credit, our Timothy girls didn’t panic and really turned up their focus. The bottom of the sixth started with a double from Kari LeGrand, followed one batter later by a triple from Janna Strodtman. Christina Lemon’s single drove in Strodtman with the go-ahead run. Great defense by Lemon and Emma Heyboer shut down IC in the seventh to secure the win (8 – 7).
Sports Calendar/Schedule/Scores (www.myschoolcalendar.net)