Softball: Kelly Christner helps Andrew continue hot start
Updated: March 29, 2012 5:03PM
As a sophomore, Andrew’s Kelly Christner was a real thorn in Homewood-Flossmoor’s side in last season’s Class 4A Lockport Sectional semifinals, going 4-for-4 and leading her team to a 6-3 victory.
She’s proving just as thorny as a junior.
Thursday, Christner stuck it to the Vikings again with another 4-for-4 day, as the No. 4 Thunderbolts kept their impressive start to the 2012 season going via a 6-0 win.
Andrew (4-0) was a virtual offensive machine, getting at least one hit in every inning and totaling 12. Christner was joined in the multi-hit club by Caitlyn Migawa (2-for-4), Gabby D’Oronzo (2-for-3) and Katie Burke (2-for-4, 3 RBI).
T-Bolts pitcher Brooke Hofer, meanwhile, blanked H-F (1-4) on four hits, while recording four strikeouts.
Every T-Bolt starter reached base at least once. The first to cross the plate was Migawa, who stroked a leadoff double in the second inning and came in on a base hit by Burke. Burke added a two-run single in the third. Christner, meanwhile, sprayed her four singles to four different spots across the entire outfield.
“We just remembered their pitcher (Sarah Burke) from last year and we knew it was going to be a tough game,” Christner said. “So we all came out strong. We all hit up and down the lineup, and we’ve been doing that this season so far. It’s really nice to see that we don’t have to count on just a couple of people to hit.”
H-F, meanwhile, had a few chances with runners in scoring position, but couldn’t dent Hofer. One of their best was in the third, when with two outs Ciara Adkins and Sydney Battle went back-to-back with hits and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Hofer escaped damage by getting Angela Roberts on a tap in front of the plate.
Also key for Andrew was a tremendous pair of running catches in left and right field by Dani Bestwina and Angela Robison.
“Oh, my gosh, the outies got a lot of good work today tracking down those balls,” Hofer said. “Everyone is playing good defense all around. And like Kelly said, with the hitting, one through nine, everyone is contributing. It’s awesome.”
© 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment