Put yourself in Elaine Carter`s place.
Your Thornwood pitching debut is Saturday in the second game against hard-hitting Downers Grove South, ranked sixth in the Chicago area.
Your nerves are jagged as you watch what may be the best team in the west suburbs cut loose on Thunderbirds ace Michelle Campbell.
Downers South won 5-4 in nine innings, led by sophomore center-fielder Amy Thompson with three hits and four RBIs, including the game-winning single. ”They were hitting the ball all over the place,” Carter said. ”I was afraid it would be even worse for me.”
But Carter didn`t give up a hit until the fourth inning and stopped the Mustangs on four hits in a 2-0 Thornwood victory.
”I can`t say for sure why I pitched like that,” Carter said. ”When I pitched last summer, I was very jumpy. As soon as I`d get the ball back from the catcher, I`d want to throw another pitch.”
Constantly saying to herself ”calm down” and ”don`t rush,” Carter kept the Mustangs off-balance until the fifth when Beth Gyllstrom and Shannon Hutson drove in runs.
Thornwood, state softball champion the last two years, was beginning its first season without Tina Zuccolo, the two-time all-state pitcher.
Then Amy Elza led off the first game with a double for Downers South
(2-2), triggering hope among the Mustangs that a new era was dawning for this fun-loving bunch.
”We`re young, but most of us have been playing together a long time,”
Thompson said of a team that starts two sophomores, two freshmen and only three seniors.
”Amy has really been a pleasant surprise,” coach Gretchen Sauer said.
”I`ve never had a team start out so fast. Usually, we play around for eight games or so before we start getting serious.”
Thompson, who had a single and double in the second game, said playing summer ball against 18-year-olds primed her for the high school season.
Nothing came easy for Thornwood in the opener, although Gyllstrom was 2 for 3 with four RBIs. Trailing 2-0, the T-Birds rallied for a tie on Gyllstrom`s two-run single in the sixth. Downers South scored twice in the first extra inning, but another two-run single by Gyllstrom tied it again.
Elsewhere, the much-anticipated showdown between No. 1 Lockport and No. 2 Sandburg was postponed because of Lockport`s soggy field. The teams hope to make up the game April 10 at Sandburg.
Lockport`s backup pitcher, Missy Porzel, announced Saturday she will accept a softball scholarship to Eastern Illinois. It`s almost unheard of for a No. 2 pitcher to receive a scholarship.
Porzel is stuck behind the state`s top pitcher, De Paul-bound Amber Podlesny, but has a 23-0 varsity record and is 42-1 since entering Lockport. She was 12-0 last year with a 0.38 earned-run average.
