Freshman Emma Heller was calm and collected in the pitcher’s circle Saturday morning, when the Rochelle Lady Hub varsity softball team faced Boylan Catholic at RTHS.
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ROCHELLE — Freshman Emma Heller was calm and collected in the pitcher’s circle Saturday morning, when the Rochelle Lady Hub varsity softball team faced Boylan Catholic at RTHS.
Heller fired a complete game and struck out all three batters she faced in the top of the seventh inning. The shutdown frame capped off a stellar performance for Heller, who struck out a total of 16 batters and held Boylan Catholic to just three hits during Rochelle’s 5-2 win over the Titans. The Lady Hubs (3-3, 0-0 Interstate 8) will begin conference play against Ottawa on Monday.
“My team backed me up and they cheered me on for the whole game,” Heller said. “I feel really good. The older girls have definitely welcomed me in and I couldn’t be more thankful for them.”
A pair of fielding errors and an RBI single from Boylan Catholic’s Janae Burke enabled the Titans to take a 2-0 lead over Rochelle in the top of the third inning. Freshman Camryn Metzger put the Lady Hubs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning, belting an RBI double into left-center field that drove home freshman teammate Phelisity Lopez, who drew a two-out walk earlier in the frame. Rochelle tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, where junior Lauren Dyer smacked an RBI double to left field that plated freshman teammate Jaclynn Lira.
Dyer’s double sparked a two-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning for the Lady Hubs, who surged ahead 3-2 before adding two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, where senior Ella Alfano laced a two-RBI double into deep left field. Heller and the Lady Hubs escaped a jam in the top of the sixth inning, where Boylan Catholic loaded the bases with two outs and forced a circle visit from coach Kent Lodico. Heller struck out Madeline Peck to end the Boylan threat.
“My team backed me up and my coach was there for me,” Heller said. “He reassured me that I could do it and he told me to breathe and to believe in myself. Everything was fine after that.”
Heller struck out Madeline Kiley, Gabrielle Acuna and Lilyana Burke in back-to-back-to-back at-bats in the top of the seventh inning to seal the Rochelle victory. Metzger went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Dyer went 2-for-4 with one RBI to lead the Lady Hubs on offense.
