Chloe Geijer’s basic philosophy on hitting involves making contact.
“I always try to come out ready to swing,” she said. “Being near the top of the order, I know I’m going to see more strikes.
“With a powerful lineup behind me, all I have to do is get on base and everyone will get me around to home. So I try to see the ball early in the count and attack strikes.”
The Lincoln-Way East senior attacked with aplomb Thursday with one of the Southland’s most explosive performances of the season.
Geijer, an Indiana recruit, was 5-for-5 with three home runs and two singles as the Griffins beat Andrew 16-6 in their home opener.
It came on a day not exactly fit for softball.
“It was super windy and cold, but we looked at it as another day of softball, and we all love to be there for it,” Geijer said. “We have a great team, and we found a way to break through the cold and come together and play.
“I really wasn’t expecting to have a day like that. But when I hit the third one, I was like, ‘Oh, wow. This is kind of cool.'”
Geijer went back to work Saturday, going 1-for-3 with a triple in an 8-1 win over Plainfield South.
Geijer is hitting .484 with four home runs and has an on-base percentage of .500. She slugged 17 home runs last season.
Lincoln-Way East coach Elizabeth Hyland has Geijer batting second in the lineup because of her versatility.
“She can not only bunt, she can hit and she can also bring power,” Hyland said. “We like her at the top of the batting order so it gives her the extra at-bat each game.”
Defensively, Geijer is a utility player. She has played second base, shortstop and center field for the Griffins.
On and off the field, she’s the heart of the team.
“She’s just a phenomenal role model and a great leader,” Hyland said. “She has brought some senior leadership that I have not seen in some time. This girl is the cake and more, let me tell you.
“I think it’s just the presence she brings to the team. She leads by example, and her enthusiasm and her love of the game … she just wants everybody to love it just as much as she does.”
It goes beyond game day.
“Chloe is always taking extra grounders after practice, extra cuts after we’re done hitting,” Hyland said. “She’s a rare diamond.”
Iron girl: Evergreen Park junior Lily Strand is one of the Southland’s most proficient strikeout pitchers.
The right-hander has 78 strikeouts in 39 innings. She’s a major reason the Mustangs (9-1-1) are off to one of the best starts in the program’s history.
Strand is coming off a difficult 2021, during which she was bouncing back from elbow surgery. Evergreen Park coach Michelle Vucsko had her on a pitch count most of the season.
She finished with a flourish, however, tossing a no-hitter against De La Salle in a Class 3A regional semifinal.
“That was a really good indicator of what we could expect when we got her back,” Vucsko said.
When Strand started this season’s opener against St. Ignatius, she found out just how “back” she was. She was in the circle for all 14 innings of a 0-0 tie and finished with 207 pitches.
“I must have asked her every inning that game, probably starting in the ninth inning, ‘Are you good?'” Vucsko said. “And she said ‘yes’ every single time. I think even if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have let me take her out of that game.
“She just did a fantastic job. I think we sat her for a week after that one.”
Since then, Strand has recorded a victory over 2021 Class 3A state runner-up Lemont. She came up just short in a 1-0 loss to Oak Forest.
Strand’s secret? She’s hard to figure out.
“She just really has a good mix of speed and movement,” Vucsko said. “Her change-up is really, really good. She does not sell that at all. She just really does a good job of mixing things up.”
Take a bow: This is the final year of Pat Mayer’s coaching and teaching career at Oak Lawn. Mayer won 343 games in 21 seasons as the Spartans coach before stepping down in 2009. He has remained as an assistant.