Burlington Central’s Emily Kisch raced towards the fence in center field and at the last possible second, she raised her mitt.
“I was just running and I wasn’t sure when to put my glove up,” Kisch said. “But I knew where the fence and the ball were and it all worked out.”
Kisch’s sixth-inning, over-the-shoulder catch on a blast off the bat of Waubonsie Valley’s Sabrina Calabrese helped preserve a 5-0 shutout for the Rockets in the second game of a doubleheader at the Dome in Rosemont.
Waubonsie Valley won the first game 1-0 behind a 14-strikeout performance by Shannon Hohman, while Brooke Gaylord held Waubonsie hitless through five innings in Game Two, on the way to her shutout win for Burlington Central.
Central (1-2) had 11 hits in the win, with catcher Bekah Harnish going 3-for-3 and Kisch and Courtni Neubauer getting two hits apiece.
After getting shut out by Hohman, the Rockets swung the bats well in Game Two.
“We had (14) strikeouts in the first game and it’s hard to score when you don’t hit,” Harnish said. “In the second game, we put the ball in play and (Gaylord) was keeping the ball low and moving the ball around a lot.”
Gaylord struck out four, gave up two hits, and walked one in helping Central to its first win of the season. In addition to her spectacular catch, Kisch also had two RBI in the game.
“As good as her catch was in center field, her pitching in the first game was equally good,” Central coach Wade Maisto said. “Today we showed up to play softball, my pitchers did a fantastic job, and our players were in synch.”
Waubonsie Valley (1-1) got the lone run in the first game when Jordan Kurth’s RBI single knocked in Hohman.
“Shannon (Hohman) and our defense came out ready to play, but our bats were definitely silent in the first game,” Wood said. “But Shannon got stronger as the game went on.”
Hohman was just happy to see her team get its first games of the new season out of the way.
“I think part of it today was those first-game jitters,” Hohman said. “I know I was nervous in my first at-bat because I hadn’t seen a live pitcher since November. So I think with a new lineup this year, it’s about us getting comfortable. Once we get to that point, we’ll be ready to go.”
