Safe to say, youth was served Wednesday in West Aurora’s 4-0 softball win over Romeoville.
Blackhawks pitcher Hannah Beatus isn’t a seasoned veteran. But after splitting time in the circle with Kaylee Hayton last season on varsity, the sophomore right-hander had considerably more experience to draw on than the six freshmen in the Spartans lineup.
Beatus was in control throughout, firing a three-hit shutout with six strikeouts and two walks to even her record at 1-1. Just one Romeoville runner got as far as second base and the Spartans (1-3) didn’t get their first hit until Maddie Mussaro hit a soft liner to left field with two outs in the fifth inning.
The Spartans added a single in each of the final two innings.
“Hannah pitched pretty well, giving up just the three hits,” West Aurora coach Randy Hayslett said. “She kept them off balance for the most part. They had some good at-bats early, which was good. Hannah needs to be tested. After she got through the order, I was pretty confident.”
Sophomore first baseman Kallie Rundle gave Beatus all the runs she would need with a two-run single in the second inning. The Blackhawks (1-2) squandered a scoring opportunity in the first, stranding Taylor Podschweit at third base after she led off with a double.
“I was a little nervous,” Hayslett said. “In softball, two or three runs is never enough.”
Junior catcher Carly Frauenhoff added her second hit of the day, a two-out RBI double off the fence in left field in the third to drive in Cara Jimenez, who had walked.
“The first two games I was a little off (hitting),” said Frauenhoff, who capped a perfect day at the plate with a walk.
“I saw (Romeoville freshman starter Brittany Osborne) was giving everybody first-pitch strike so I tried to go for that, but she didn’t give me one. She came inside.”
On her double, Frauenhoff faced another freshman in reliever Audrey Sizemore, who struck out nine batters over the final four innings.
“That one was right down the middle and I had to crank it,” Frauenhoff said.
“She hit that off the fence and I worried about her trying to do too much in her next at-bat, but she stayed within herself,” Hayslett said. “She had good, quality at-bats and we needed that.”
West added an unearned insurance run in the fourth when Podschweit reached on an infield error and scored on another infield error.
“We had some good at-bats and hit some hard outs, but we’re not stringing enough of them together yet,” Hayslett said. “We’re not getting enough where everybody feeds off it.
“I’m pleased defensively. We’re making the plays.”
Romeoville coach Christina Douglas, who is coming off a 10-16 season, had only two seniors in the lineup.
“Lucky for us we’ve got a good freshman class that has experience playing some competitive travel ball,” she said. “I’m looking for them to turn the page of our program and they’re starting to do that. Offensively, we’re struggling a little bit.”
Twitter: @RickArmstrong28
