CALUMET TWP. | Things could not have been going much worse for Calumet's Liz Kadisak. In her big Greater South Shore Conference game against visiting Lake Station she was just awful.
Two strikeouts in her first two at-bats on Wednesday didn't fill her soul with a ton of confidence when she stepped to the plate in the sixth inning with the Warriors trailing by one with two runners on base.
Strike one. Strike two. Aaagghhh. Timeout.
Calumet assistant coach Mike Leyendecker, who was filling in for head coach Ryan Vondrak, who was ill, clapped his hands and said, "You got this. You're going to hit the ball."
The pitch arrived, "ping," and the ball went sailing into right sending both runners home. Calumet wins 5-4.
"I was just thinking I did not want to strike out again," Kadisak said. "I saw it connect with the bat and I started running. We won, Dude. It was awesome."
Lake Station (8-6, 5-3) had its own drama in the top of the sixth. With two outs and two strikes, Lexi Brock launched a home run to deep center to give the Eagles momentum and the lead.
But four physical errors and a couple more of the mental variety gave Edison its second straight loss.
"You can't have those kind of mistakes against a good team," Lake Station coach Linda Llewellyn said. "Those early mistakes hurt us. Shelby (Jorgensen) pitched a great game. But with two strikes that pitch was too good."
The Eagles got solid games from Caitlin Acker, who was 2-for-3 with a double, run scored and one RBI. Angela Aguilar had a big triple in the first that eventually got a run home.
But Calumet ace Kaitlyn Magiera struck out nine to pick up the victory.
"I was kind of in shock, I didn't expect it, when they beat us earlier this year," Magiera said. "They're getting a lot better. They're kind of like we were a couple of years ago. Liz's hit was huge. What a great feeling. What a big win."
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