Lincoln-Way East junior Maddy Hickey very visibly shows grit and intensity when she throws a pitch.
She also gets pretty excited when she finishes off a strikeout or a teammate makes a good play.
In the 10th inning Tuesday against host Lockport, Hickey pumped her first and let out a yell when she thought she slipped a third strike past a Porters batter.
Except it was only strike two.
“Yeah, I got a little too excited,” Hickey said. “I thought it was three. But I did get the out.”
Indeed, she did. She got the next three outs as well, capping a brilliant performance as the Griffins prevailed 8-4 in 11 innings.
Chloe Geijer homered and delivered the game-deciding two-run single for Lincoln-Way East (8-0, 1-0) in the SouthWest Suburban Blue victory. Maddie Pomykalski and Danielle Stewart also hit home runs.
Stephanie Hayes hit a three-run homer for Lockport (10-3, 0-1). Freshman right-hander Alaina Peetz pitched all 11 innings.
After allowing four runs in the first two innings, Hickey shut the Porters out over the last nine. She allowed just two hits during that stretch while ending up with nine strikeouts.
“Not a good start, but I’m so glad everyone was behind me to calm me down,” Hickey said. “Chloe (Geijer) was like, ‘It’s four runs. So what? Hey, you’ve got this.'”
Hickey, a right-hander, upped her record to 4-0. She has 40 strikeouts in 36 innings with a 1.08 ERA.
It’s the first full varsity season for Hickey, who was pulled up by Griffins coach Elizabeth Hyland in 2021 for the state playoffs.
“Maddy has done a great job,” Hyland said. “She pitched last season in a sectional game against Lincoln-Way Central and I thought she handled herself very well.
“Going into this season, we knew what she expected of herself as well as what we expected of her. She’s so determined. She worked hard in the offseason, and when we’re not playing games, she’s constantly pitching.”
Even during her rough patch at the beginning against Lockport, Hickey was clutch.
After scoring three runs in the first inning, the Porters still had the bases loaded with two outs when Hickey retired the last batter on a tap back to the circle.
Lockport had the bases loaded with two outs again in the bottom of the second before Hickey rang up a strikeout.
All with Geijer encouraging her from second base.
“After we attacked early and they attacked early we said, ‘OK, it’s going to be a battle at the plate,'” Geijer said. “But Maddy was able to step up.
“The defense had her back and she knows that. We talk to her and keep her up and she keeps us up. We’re all there for each other. It’s awesome.”
Hickey made the most of the leash that Hyland extended her.
“I thought for sure I was going to be pulled by the third inning,” Hickey said. “It’s nice to see she has so much faith in me, even when I’m not pitching my best. And I had the defense behind me, too.
“I just made sure I stayed tall. I wasn’t trying to overthrow and pitch as fast as I could. Speed is not the game — it’s more the spin. My change-up is what kept the game going.”
For Geijer, the big hits keep on coming.
The Griffins trailed 4-3 in the top of the fifth when she launched her fifth home run of the season and her fourth in six days.
“I was talking with coach before that at-bat,” Geijer said. “It was just a relaxed moment. We were down by one, but I was just trying to get on base. It happened to go over the fence.”
In the top of the 10th, East had the bases loaded with two outs when Geijer drove a two-run single past a diving shortstop. Katie Stewart followed with another two-run single to pad the lead.
“I was excited,” Geijer said. “I was trying to get the base hit to score a run. I knew we could shut them out the rest of the way with Maddy on the mound and a strong defense behind her.”
