Harlem back on track for NIC-10 softball championship

By Bob Balgemann

Reporter

MACHESNEY PARK – Harlem and Belvidere North have had another one of their classic confrontations on the high school softball field.

The Lady Huskies won their first meeting earlier this season, 2-1. This time turnabout was fair play for the Lady Blue Thunder, who scored twice in the bottom of the seventh May 2 to win the rematch, 5-4.

That was Harlem’s first NIC-10 loss of the season.

But it didn’t take long for the resilient Lady Huskies to recover.

The next day (May 3) they had a makeup game against always toughBoylan and rebounded with a resounding 10-4 victory. The day after that (May 4) they thumped Rockford East for the second time this season, 14-5.

And so they’re back on track with a 10-1 league record coming into this week.

Boylan jumped off to a 2-0 lead in the first inning its topsy-turvy game at Harlem. But the Lady Huskies bounced back on Bianca Barone’s solo home run and an RBI single by Olivia Penney in the bottom of the first.

Then it was 3-2, Lady Titans, after three.

Aided by two Boylan errors and a walk, Kayla Kampmeier and MaddyFajardo scored in the fourth to regain the advantage, 4-3.

Boylan didn’t respond in the top of the fifth so Harlem struck two more times in the bottom of that inning to lead, 6-3. Elle Adams led off with a home run and Kampmeier doubled in Caitlyn Bolding, who reached on an error.

The Lady Huskies (14-6 overall) never looked back and put four more on the board in the last of the sixth to cement the victory.

Megen Johnson had the big hit of the inning, a two-run homer, to go with Adams’ RBI single. Mackenzie Lawrence opened the inning with a walk and eventually scored on a passed ball.

Fajardo pitched the win.

One-sided over East

Harlem routed East, 11-1, the first time they met. The rematch was a 14-5 Harlem victory.

The Lady E-Rabs stayed close early, but the Lady Huskies broke open a 5-5 game with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. They added three each in the fourth and fifth to put the game out of reach.

Fajardo (2-for-2, 2 RBIs) and Johnson (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) led an offense that received contributions from many players.

Bolding drove in Barone with the game’s first run; Barone had an RBI double in the third. Bolding, Johnson and Kampmeier all walked and scored in the fourth; Kampmeier hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth; Lawrence had an RBI single in the third.

Adams was the winning pitcher.

Harlem took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh at Belvidere North, only to see the hosts score twice for the win.

The Lady Huskies edged ahead in the third inning when Bolding led off with a single and came home on a triple by Barone. It was 2-1, Harlem, in the fourth after Olivia Penney opened with a single, was sacrificed to second by Kirstin Fudge and eventually scored.

Harlem went up 4-3 by scoring twice after Fudge led off the top of the sixth with a single. Bolding and Barone delivered key RBI singles after Bolding’s hit with two out kept the inning alive.