NORTHBROOK — When the Glenbrook North softball team fell behind by four runs in the third inning against Lake Park, Spartans coach Jenn Mau didn’t lose any faith in her team.
“We’ve been down before, but we know we can score runs,” she said. “We’ve had high-scoring games and we’ve scored multiple runs in an inning before, so we just talked about how we can and we will [come back]. And we did.”
Glenbrook North won the first game of the nonconference doubleheader 8-6 Saturday after trailing 6-2 in the third inning. The Spartans then dropped the second game 8-1.
After giving up three runs in the top of the third to fall behind by four in the opener, the Spartans wasted no time coming back.
After the leadoff hitter in the bottom half of the third got on base with a walk, senior Ashley Gruenberg hit an RBI double. The very next batter, senior Kate Kamin, sent a line drive over the left-field fence, driving in two more runs. And the Spartans weren’t done yet as senior Courtney Chron sent a shot of her own over the left-field fence in a near replica of the previous hit, tying the game at six.
The teams remained tied until the bottom of the sixth when Gruenberg came back up to the plate. With two outs and the bases loaded, her single knocked in two runs and gave the Spartans an 8-6 lead that wouldn’t be relinquished.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Lake Park used a great performance in the circle and an offensive flurry to dominate all seven innings.
Glenbrook North (12-9) was held to the minimum number of at-bats (12) through the first four innings, with the lone Spartans base runner being erased on a double play in the first inning.
Lake Park junior pitcher Elisabeth Brown held Glenbrook North scoreless until the bottom of the seventh and gave up just five hits while striking out as many Spartans en route to a complete-game win.
“The team had my back,” Brown said. “It feels good. It takes the stress off of us before our next game.”
