Fenwick Softball Finds Relief In Victory

The noise emanating from the Fenwick girls softball team’s dugout in the bottom of the fifth told the story.

The Friars came alive after breaking a tie with three runs in the inning. The offensive outburst brought much-needed relief in the form of a 6-2 East Suburban Catholic Conference triumph over St. Viator Thursday at the Priory in River Forest.

“It was definitely a big relief, you know,” winning pitcher Olivia Soja said of the rally that enabled the Friars to snap a six-game losing streak. “It’s just nice to finally have some pressure taken off.”

“It was a slump that I think every team goes through,” said Friars shortstop Natalie Marotta, who went two for three and scored twice. “It’s just something you’ve got to come out of. It’s discouraging to lose so many games, but everybody’s been up. We were ready to win this game.”

Fenwick (8-12, 2-8) jumped ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first on Kerry Lange’s RBI single. St. Viator (9-13, 2-6) tied the game with a run in the second before taking a 2-1 lead on pitcher Julie Sweeney’s solo home run in the third.

The Friars tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third when Marotta singled with one out and eventually scored on an error.

The game remained deadlocked until Fenwick’s big fifth inning. Marotta led off with a triple down the right-field line. With one out, Soja sent a roller to second baseman Jacklyn Kozial and Marotta beat the throw home. After Sam Borawski dropped a hit over first baseman Michelle Pressiak, the Friars scored two more runs on Marisa Wakely’s bunt when the throw to first went wild.

“It was just like, all right, let’s just take this game now,” Marotta said.

Fenwick added an insurance run in the sixth when Ashley Parenti lined a leadoff triple to center and scored on Alex Tomasek’s bunt.

That was more than enough offense for Soja in the circle. The sophomore scattered eight hits, walked two and struck out four.

“I thought she stayed composed,” Fenwick coach Jen Butler said. “Her velocity really helped her today.”

Soja received strong defensive support -- highlighted by Tomasek throwing out St. Viator’s Sam Hogan trying to score from second on Tayler Lenart’s single into center field in the second inning.

“That was a really good throw,” Soja said. “I thought she was going to score and then (Tomasek) just came up firing.”

“Alex has been starting in center since her freshman year,” Butler said. “She’s a junior now. She’s about as solid as you can get in a player. She’s an excellent center fielder.”

The Friars collected eight hits. Parenti and Lange joined Marotta in registering two hits apiece.

The winners hope to parlay their strong performance into more victories when they play Joliet Catholic in an 11 a.m. Saturday doubleheader at home.

“I feel like this win will give us momentum for the next couple games,” Marotta said.

“They’re going be tough games,” Butler said, “but if we go out like we did today, I have no doubts we’ll be fine against them.”