LAPORTE | After going 0-for-2 at the plate, Chesterton's Jill Bohnert returned to bat against LaPorte on Monday with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
And she hit her first grand slam.
The hit helped lift Chesterton to a 10-2 victory over LaPorte.
"I was relieved to hit the ball," Bohnert said. "I'm really happy how they congratulated me. It really made me feel part of the team."
"That takes the wind out of your sails a bit," LaPorte coach Bob Severs said. "I've seen teams come back, but I think team-wise, it would pop your bubble on any team."
LaPorte and Chesterton were tied 1-1 going into the sixth inning, but Sammie Howard's double scored Shelby Carter to put the Trojans up 2-1.
Pinch runner Alexa Olson moved to third, and with Howard on second LaPorte intentionally walked Megan Matheny to load the bases. Bohnert came to the plate and hit her grand slam to center field that gave the Trojans a 6-1 lead.
"We knew she had it in her," Chesterton coach LouAnn Hopson said. "I've got about four or five girls that can hit the home runs -- and they swing for them."
Chesterton scored four more runs in the seventh. Howard hit a single to left field, and a throwing error allowed Carter to score to put the Trojans up 7-1. Howard had four hits and, two runs scored and two RBIs, and eight Trojans had a least one hit.
LaPorte had four errors -- all leading to Chesterton scores.
"We probably equaled our season total of errors today. We just had one of those days," Severs said. "We know how well we can play, it just wasn't today."
Megan Tymorek pitched all seven innings for the Trojans (7-6, 3-2), giving up two runs, seven strikeouts, a walk and 12 hits. Four of the 12 hits came in the seventh inning when LaPorte tried to put together a rally to score.
"She was going doing a nice ball moving the ball around," Hopson said. "She used her change up, some but not judicially, but not non-stop so it made it more effective. She was hitting the spots, not trying to lose anyone in place."
Meghan Bunch pitched the first five innings for the Slicers (9-2, 3-2), and then was relieved by Hannah Fuller in the sixth. After Fuller gave up the five runs in the sixth, Bunch returned to pitch the final inning. Combined, the pitchers gave up 15 hits and struck out three. Samantha Becker added three hits for LaPorte.
"Sometimes you have a bad day, and that was today," Severs said. "We were lucky to be at 9-2, and we were lucky to be at 9-1. We had a bad day. The sun will come up tomorrow and we'll play again."
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