By By STEVE MORRISON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – It took 22 games and extra innings for the Niles varsity softball team to yield one earned run, but it was just enough for Penn to stop the Lady Vikings' 22-0 winning streak.
Eleventh-ranked Penn, the Indiana Class 4-A powerhouse, scored on consecutive doubles by catcher Alex Dunfee and first baseman Jayne Ellis, in the top of the ninth inning to edge the Vikings 2-1 Monday night at Niles' Vella Field.
In a pitchers' duel, striking out 18 Kingsmen, Niles ace Jenna Ignowski kept her Viking mates in the game all of the way.
Ignowski struck out the side in the first, fourth and sixth innings, while fanning two in the second, third, fifth and ninth. She allowed only three hits in regulation and five for the game.
On the mound for the Kingsmen, Monica Palicki was virtually equal to her counterpart, mixing her pitches and holding Niles to seven hits, as she went the whole nine frames herself.
Viking right fielder Heather Daniels had two of those safeties for the Vikes.
The first two innings of the contest were relatively quiet. The ball never left the infield, as Ignowski mowed down the Kingsmen for the first six outs. Palicki yielded singles to Cricket Fisher in the first and Daniels in the second, but escaped with no trouble.
Penn center fielder Kayla Hinton led off the third inning with a double to right center. Ignowski appeared ready to escape the situation, as she induced a pop-up from Shelby Miller and struck out Jenna Simon. Following a passed ball, which moved Hinton to third, Ignowski induced a come backer to the mound from Heather Genovese.
Ignowski sailed the throw over first baseman Nicole Ignowski for an error, scoring Hinton for the first run of the game. It was the first time Niles had ever trailed an opponent this season.
Niles loaded the bases with two out in the fourth on consecutive singles by the Ignowskis and a one-out walk to Daniels, but Palicki got Stephanie Stoops to pop up to short for the third out.
As the hometown crowd waited for the ladies to rally, Erica Gordon led off the bottom of the fifth with a base on balls for Niles. She advanced to third on a single by lead off hitter Nellie Coquillard and a steal. Fisher sacrificed Gordon in to tie the score at 1-1.
Sensing the tension, both sides held the other until the bottom of the seventh. Stephanie Stoops began it with a single to left, and advanced to second on an error by Ashley Carico when she overran the ball. Gordon walked and the Vikings looked to win it with two on, no outs and the top of the lineup due to hit.
Palicki wiggled out of the impending storm with a pop up to second from Coquillard, and two ground outs from Fisher and Maggie Ernsberger.
The score remained tied until the top of the ninth.
Penn's Dunfee rapped a one out double into right center on an 0-2 count. Ellis followed with a two strike gapper to left center for two bases, and a 2-1 Kingsmen lead. Ignowski set down the next three hitters, fanning the last two.
With one out in the Niles' half of the ninth, Erica Gordon drew a base on balls, but two outs in succession ended the game.
"They're a great team; they're 20-5, a top 10 team in Indiana. We hit the ball; we just didn't get it to drop," Niles coach Gary Collins expressed in an upbeat post-game summary. "In the seventh, when I thought our chances were really good, I thought our best two hitters, with less than two outs, would drive in a run. We had the run at third and we just couldn't get it in!" They (Penn) made plays; they just made plays, (when they needed to make them)" he concluded.
Niles stands proudly at 22-1 for the season.
Penn 001 000 001 – 2 5 2
Niles 000 010 000 – 1 6 4
WP – Monica Palicki (P, 13-3) and Alex Dunfee
LP – Jenna Ignowski (N, 21-1) and Maggie Ernsberger
2B: Kayla Hinton (P), Alex Dunfee (P), Jayne Ellis (P)
Records
Penn 20-5, Niles 22-1