HH_051718

42 | May 17, 2018 | The Homer Horizon sports
homerhorizon.com
Softball
LTHS clinches second in division, earns third seed in sectional
Team falls to Griffins,
rebounds to beat
Knights, Vikings in
next two games
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
The Porters may not yet
have solved how to beat one
team that remains a thorn in
their side, but they otherwise
are showing that they
continue to be a force to be
reckoned with.
The Lockport Township
softball team had a tough
day against an opponent it
has been unable to beat recently
in Lincoln-Way East,
but it rebounded nicely the
following two games and remains
a top postseason contender.
The Griffins roped 14 hits
and got another great performance
from pitcher Alex
Storako in a 10-2 win over
the Porters in a big South-
West Suburban Conference
Blue Division game on May
7 in Frankfort.
It was the 14th win in a
row this season for East (17-
5, 7-0), which moved a step
closer to winning its fourthstraight
SWSC Blue title. It
was also the Griffins 11th
consecutive victory over
Lockport. The dominant
streak started with an 11-5
win on June 5, 2014 in in the
semifinals of the Class 4A
Andrew Sectional, included
two other postseason games
and hasn’t stopped since.
Lockport entered the
game having won 14 of 15
games since a 13-8 loss to
Marist on April 17. But the
Griffins jumped out early
last week by scoring double
the runs (4) in the second
inning than they had in the
previous matchup between
the two. That was a 2-1 East
win in an intense showdown
on April 13 at Lockport.
But last week was a great
day for the Griffins and especially
Storako. The senior
right-hander was dominant
in the circle, allowing
the two earned runs on six
hits with one walk and 14
strikeouts. She was just as
dominant at the plate with a
3-for-3, four-RBI game that
included a pair of doubles
and a solo home run to right
in the sixth.
Lockport (24-5, 6-2
through May 9) scored a run
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in the sixth on a solo homer
to left by senior first baseman
Tara McElligott and
added one more run in the
seventh on an RBI double
by junior left fielder Payton
Grcevic. That scored junior
right fielder Lauren Johnson,
who was 2-for-3, including a
leadoff double in the inning.
Lockport bounced back
from the loss to the Griffins
to defeat host Lincoln-
Way Central 8-2 in a SWSC
crossover on May 8 in New
Lenox.
The game was originally
scheduled for April 18, but
it was postponed due to the
weather. The loss broke a
10-game winning streak for
Central (23-3 through May
10), which lost to the Porters
for the fourth time in the past
three seasons.
The same day the Knights
lost to Lockport, they did get
good news, however. The
Knights received the top
seed in a sectional for the
first time since 2007. The
Class 4A sectional will be
hosted by Joliet West.
Lockport received the
third seed, behind Lincoln-
Way East. Plainfield South,
Plainfield East, Lincoln-Way
West, Joliet West and Minooka
rounded out the Top
8 seeds.
A day after getting six
hits in a 10-2 loss at Lincoln-Way
East, the Porters
knocked out that many hits
in the first inning in scoring
three runs.
The tone was set in the
bottom half of the first, as
Central loaded the bases
with one out. But Lockport
pitcher Erin Kleffman zoned
in and got a pair of first-pitch
pop flies to end the inning.
That started a stretch where
the Knights left at least two
on base for the first five innings,
stranded 11 total in
that span and 12 total in the
game.
Kleffman fired a complete
game to get the win. The
junior right-hander walked
three and struck out three.
“I’ve never been a strikeout
pitcher, and I rely on
my defense, so this season
I’ve worked on trusting my
defense,” Kleffman said. “I
think this will be a confidence
booster and show that
we can play a clean game,
and also hit the ball like we
know that we can. I like how
much we pick each other
up.”
Lockport was led by senior
center fielder Taylor
Herschbach (3-for-4, HR,
RBI), senior catcher Gracie
Voulgaris (3-for-5, RBI) and
McElligott (2-for-4, 2 RBI).
“I had no clue,” Herschbach
said of her first-pitch
homer, and third of the year,
that led off the fifth and
made it 7-1. “I didn’t know
it was over until [first base]
coach Angie [Cushman] told
me to touch them all. We just
came with a different mindset
[than the day before].
We just have to have each
other’s backs and keep it going.”
Senior shortstop Courtney
Please see softball, 41
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Lockport’s Erin Kleffman pitched the entire game and picked up a victory against the
Knights May 8 in New Lenox. She struck out three batters in the win.
22nd Century Media File Photo