Hemmerle dominates to lead Belleville East to softball win over Highland
When Olivia Hemmerle starts in the pitching circle, good things have been happening for the Belleville East softball team this spring.
Hemmerle, a hard-throwing junior righthander took the ball again for the Lancers on Wednesday and, with a little help, did not dissappoint.
Thanks to some timely hitting and another dominating pitching outing from Hemmerle, Belleville East posted a 4-2 nonconference victory over Highland at Highland High School.
It was a nice early season road win for Coach Natalie Peters young and developing Lancers club.
“I thought it was a very competitive game between two good teams and I’m proud of our team and I think they did the little things right today,” Peters said. “We got our bunts down, we moved runners over and had some good situational hitting.”
Belleville East (3-2) used good situational hitting in the top of the third to get the lead. A base hit by Ari Monroe and error on the throw home allowed Maddie Mueller, who reached base to lead off, and Monroe to score.
“The ball got past the catcher and and one runners was sent home and our just kept running and she’s pretty speedy and really aggressive an it allowed us to score two runs,” Peters said.
East added added insurance runs in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Emma Fetters and in the seventh on Monroe’s RBI groundout which plated Aby Kohler from third.
That cushion gave Hemmerle plenty of breathing room to deal in the circle.
Hemmerle was strong all day in the circle as she silenced the Bulldogs bats for six inning carrying a shutout into the seventh inning.
“Everything was working today and I couldn’t have done with without my team,” Hemmerle said. “My team was behind me and they were making every play that they needed to.”
Highland finally got on the board in he bottom of the seventh as pitcher Kaitlyn Wilson’s two-run single to right cut the ed to 4-2 with one out.
Hemmerle, however, settled back down and retired the next two Highland hitters to pick up the complete-game victory.
“You’ve just got to stay focused and my team helps me with that like remind how many outs there and little stuff and I have to remind myself to calm down too and my coaches tell me to breathe,” Hemmerle said.
Hemmerle gave up two runs on two hits, struck out six and walked two to get the win.
First-year Highland coach Chris Nikonovich was disappointed with the final result but was very happy with his team’s overall performance.
“We know going into the game she was a very talented pitcher but I I say I’m proud of our girls hanging in there all the way until the last inning and battling all the way to the last out,” Nikonovich said. “It’s not fun to lose on an error but that’s part of it.”
Highland is off to a 2-1 start so far and Nikonovich is a big fan of his team’s grit and hard-nosed approach to the game.
“I like the grit,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of grit. We’ve got a lot of youth and a lot of grit and they’re not afraid to go out there and grind all the way to the last one. That’s all I ask for.”
Monroe and Ashlyn Samson led the Lancers’ seven-hit output with two hits apiece.
Wilson took the loss for Highland.
Highland is back in action Thursday with a 4;15 p.m. road game at Granite City. Belleville East returns to action on Monday with a 4:30 home contest against Civic Memorial.
