By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The York softball team had a healthy dose of recent West Suburban Conference Silver Division action.
During a four-game stretch, the Dukes went 2-2 in games against Oak Park-River Forest, Proviso West, Glenbard West and Lyons Township. The 2-2 split put York at 13-5 overall and 4-3 in WSC Silver play.
In a 9-4 loss to Oak Park-River Forest, Abby Solem was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Mia Tran had a hit and an RBI. Gabby Magnifico went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI. Andrea Meager took the loss. Julia Derkowski also pitched and fanned five in three innings.
In a 13-1 win over Proviso West, the Dukes had 18 hits. Katherine Karnatz went 2-for-2 with a triple and a run scored. Tran was 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Izzy Smith went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI. Meager went 2-for-2 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Sarah Maciejewski was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Shawna Hanrahan had a hit and an RBI. Annie Mundle went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI. Madison Collins also was 2-for-2 and scored a run. Lauren Wojick went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Wojick was the winning pitcher. She struck out eight in four innings.
York had 17 hits in a 12-5 win over Glenbard West. The Dukes were bolstered by a seven-run fifth inning. Amanda Karnatz went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, two stolen bases and an RBI. Kyra Kroll was 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Magnifico went 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and three RBI. Solem was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a double and an RBI. Tran was 3-for-4 with a run scored, two RBI and two stolen bases. Smith had a run scored and three RBI. York stole six bases as a team. Meager was the winning pitcher. She struck out six in 5 2/3 innings.
In a 2-1 loss to Lyons Township, York had seven hits. Magnifico went 2-for-3. Kroll was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Amanda Karnatz had a double. Derkowski was the hard-luck loser. She pitched a six-inning complete game and allowed six hits, while striking out one and walking none. She needed only 54 pitches (38 for strikes) to complete six innings of work.
York coach Jenna Nolan noted her team continues to excel at the plate. “We’re doing really well with our hitting,” she said. “They are finding ways to score runs. They are communicating and playing as a team, which is great to see. We’re really confident that numbers one through nine in the lineup can come up with a big hit. When one gets going, the others fall in line.”
Nolan also has been pleased with the progress her young trio of pitchers has made. That group includes Meager, Derkowski and Wojick. “Our pitchers are young,” she said. “We have two sophomores (Meager and Wojick) and a freshman (Derkowski). They are hanging in there. They all got some experience against Oak Park-River Forest. They are figuring things out and doing really well. They work together. One might pitch four innings and the other will pitch three.They are doing a great job against some great hitting teams.”
Nolan also cited recent strong play from Magnifico and Hanrahan. “It’s nice to see Gabby doing really well,” she said. “Shawna has done well at the plate and in the field. She plays aggressive and puts everything out there on the field.”
York will be plenty busy in the WSC Silver once again this week with games scheduled against Hinsdale Central, Glenbard West and Downers Grove Norht.
“It’s another big week for us,” said Nolan.
