Hitting the ball well hasn’t been the Carmel softball team’s problem early this season.
Entering its nonconference game against Lakes on Friday, April 15, Carmel was averaging 10.5 runs per contest while batting .407.
Carmel’s eye-popping numbers don’t always equal victory, as the Corsairs found out the hard way during a 16-5 six-inning home loss to the Eagles.
“We didn’t do a real good job fielding the ball (on Friday), and that is highly uncharacteristic of us,” Corsairs coach Shane Schueneman said. “There’s not a lot you can say to your team after a loss like that. Sometimes you have to just let a game go and move on and not dwell on it too much, and that’s sort of what I’ve decided we’re doing with this one.
“You can score all the runs in the world, but it won’t matter if you struggle defensively.”
Carmel took a 3-0 lead into the top of the fourth behind the arm of Claire Petrus, but then Lakes sent 16 hitters to the plate during an 11-run inning.
“They had a number of bloop singles in that inning, and our heads weren’t fully in the game at that point,” Schueneman said. “I’m confident we have enough talented players here to turn things around pretty quick, though, so overall I can’t worry too much about it.”
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Before Lakes’ rally, the Corsairs (9-4 through Friday, April 15) were on cruise control, as seven of their nine starters reached base safely through three innings, led by senior catcher Amanda Elert (2-for-3). She’s hitting .545 with 23 RBIs in 44 at-bats and continues to be a rock-solid presence behind the plate.
“We have seven seniors on our roster right now and five of them in our lineup, so we do have some leadership and experience back after winning a regional a year ago,” Elert said. “But we also have some really good up-and-coming younger players who are starting to contribute in a big way.”
One of them is freshman third baseman Jordan Swiatkowski. She’s batting .324 with three homers and 12 RBIs while hitting in the No. 5 spot in the order. Swiatkowski opened the scoring against Lakes with an RBI single in the first, then belted a two-run homer in the fifth.
“It makes me feel good to contribute as a freshman,” she said. “But people need to keep getting on base in front of me for me and my teammates to have the chance to keep driving runs in. The girls did that tonight, but we just gave too many runs back and lost our momentum.
Swiatkowski added that she enjoys the hot corner because of the consistent action she sees defensively.
“Any spot in the infield where I have to react to line drives or hard grounders so quickly are positions I enjoy,” she said. “You don’t have a lot of time to think, you just have to be ready to do your job. The ball comes screaming at you sometimes over at third base.
“We need to shake this loss off and stay focused on taking things one game at a time,” she added. “If we do that, we’ll be all right, because this is a group of girls that seems to get along well with each other.”
Tim Froehlig is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @TFroehlig