Softball: Sandburg Rallies Past Marian Catholic

Touching All the Bases: Sandburg starting pitcher Amanda Barna worked her way out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning of the Eagles' 4-2 softball victory over Marian Catholic on Wednesday. But, in the fourth, the Spartans cracked the ice. Marian third baseman Alexandra Nickel stood in with nobody on and one out. She took a 1-1 pitch over the center field fence for a solo homer to put her team up 1-0. But the Eagles would come roaring back in the home half of the fourth. After a leadoff double by shortstop Candice Koch, Lora Olson took a Rebecca Gray pitch into deep center for a two-run homer. The Eagles added a run when Jess Perkins came up with the eventual game-winning RBI double, and they cashed in on a series of errors in the sixth to go up 4-1. Marian Catholic added a run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Gray, but it was too little too late.

Patch's MVP: Sandburg's Lora Olson once again did it with the bat and from the rubber. She earned the win in relief of Barna, with four strikeouts, three hits allowed, and one run in 3.1 innings. From the plate, she was 1-for-2 with a walk and the two-run home run. She also reached on an error and scored.

Sandburg Leaders: Aside from Olson, Lexi Bryant was 2-for-3 with a single, a double and a run scored. Jess Perkins was 1-for-3 with an RBI double. She flashed some leather with five fielding assists.

Marian Catholic Leaders: Alexandra Nickel (1-for-2, walk, solo homer), Rachel Glenn (1-for-2, walk, run).

Quotable I: Sandburg coach Jim Fabianski: "We had a lot of good defensive plays, but we also have a lot of room for improvement. We're focused on making improvements every game. We're better than what we've showed."

Quotable II: Marian coach Kerri Evans: "A lot of those runs came because of errors, and it's frustrating. I've seen them play a lot better than they did today. Sandburg is an awesome hitting team and, if you take out the errors, we really held them down."

Team Records: The Eagles are 5-3. The Spartans fell to 6-3.

What's Next: Sandburg travels to on Thursday. Marian Catholic will host Minooka.