Gael girls earn first victory
There wasn’t a ceremonial Gatorade shower for Nick Clark Friday night, but it wasn’t necessary.
Instead, Clark’s bright smile was all that was needed, as the first-year St. Edmond softball coach earned his initial win with a 4-3 victory over Hampton-Dumont at Rogers Park.
The Gaels (1-3 overall, 1-1 in North Central Conference) plated two runs in the fifth to back eighth-grader pitcher Ella Vratny, while junior outfielder Audrey Kolacia made a diving catch to end it in the seventh.
Kolacia, St. Edmond’s leadoff hitter, drew two walks, stole three bases and scored the first run of the game, while senior Megan Flattery plated two runs.
“What a great softball game,” Clark said. “I could not be more happy for the girls. We battled and showed our resilency at the plate. The girls bought into the team idea and I’m so proud of that.”
Jacque Oberg had a double and scored, Macey Mason and Sydney Nelson each had an RBI, and Rylee Kinney scored a run and stole a base.
“Everybody contributed,” Clark said. “We had so many key performances up and down the lineup. Our defense wanted the ball.
“Earlier this week, we had some kids that were hesitant in the field. Nobody was like that (Friday night).”
After three straight losses to begin the season on the road earlier this week, including one by a run and another by two, Clark saw some doubt start to creep in on his green bunch. But a simple pre-game speech changed all that around.
On the field, timely hits and aggressive running helped St. Edmond overcome a 3-1 deficit against the Bulldogs.
Kinney led off the fifth with a single and stole second. Mason plated her on a base hit after H-D got two outs and the sophomore came all the way around to score after a single by Flattery.
“Halfway through the game we had a talk,” Clark said. “We were striking out too much. I told the girls to just put the ball in play and that’s what they did. We were aggressive and had phenomenal baserunning.”
Vratny finished the game with three strikeouts and just one earned run allowed. Her classmate, Kacey Kruthoff, threw out a baserunner in the second.
“Ella threw strikes and got ahead in the count, which is what we want from her,” Clark said. “And Kacey showed great leadership behind the plate.”
In the seventh, Hampton-Dumont’s Cassy Miller connected off Vratny, but Kolacia came up with the ball in her hand. The Bulldog senior had doubled in the fifth and is a multi-event state track qualifier.
“We’ll have a talk about that decision to dive later,” Clark smiled. “For now, it was just a great catch.”
Kolacia now has seven steals through four games, while St. Edmond has swiped 18 bases as a team.
The Gaels are off until Tuesday when they host Southeast Valley. A previously scheduled game for next Friday vs. Iowa Falls-Alden will now be played on Thursday.
ST. EDMOND 4, HAMPTON-DUMONT 3
H-D 030 000 0 — 3 6 1
St. Edmond 100 120 x — 4 5 1
Kylie Voy (L, 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 2 BB) and Paige Springer; Ella Vratny (W, 1-2, 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 3 BB) and Kacey Kruthoff. 2B–HD: Cassy Miller; SE: Jacque Oberg. RBI–HD: Courtney Miller, Kiara Donaldson; SE: Macey Mason, Megan Flattery (2), Sydney Nelson. SB–HD: Cassy Miller; SE: Audrey Kolacia (3), Rylee Kinney, Devyn Scott.