Aurora Central holds off Aurora Christian

Updated: March 29, 2011 11:38AM

It's early, it was cold and it showed.

Aurora Central managed to hold off Aurora Christian 5-4 Monday in a Suburban Christian Conference Gold softball game in which every run scored was unearned. Maybe it was fitting then, that a fine defensive play saved the day for the host Chargers.

Eagles' shortstop Courtney Thomas ripped a one-out triple into the left-center field gap in the top of the seventh inning with her team down by the final margin. After seeing ACC score two of its runs on passed balls, the sophomore was very much aware that getting a good jump could be of benefit if a pitch were to get away.

Unfortunately for Aurora Christian, ACC coach Jim Hallahan noticed how aggressively Thomas came off the bag on the first pitch to Lindsey Larson and he called for a pickoff play that catcher Katie Callahan and third baseman Dani Blake executed perfectly.

Callahan threw behind Thomas, who broke for home. Blake threw home and Callahan applied the tag on the sliding Thomas.

"We have set plays when we sense aggressive runners," said Hallahan, whose team is 1-1 and 1-0. "I preach to the girls that we're gonna try to force runners to do what we want them to do."

Aurora Christian coach Amanda Leonhart understood what Thomas was trying to do.

"That was her being aggressive," Leonhart said. "She was kind of beating herself up because she made some fielding errors and wasn't doing anything at the bat (earlier). You could see it on her face.

"She's pretty much the anchor of our team, but she's only a sophomore. She's only 16. She'll come out and fix it tomorrow. I'm not worried about her."

Both pitchers, winner junior Sarah Ryan of ACC and freshman Jordan Pittman for the Eagles, gave good showings. Each struck out seven batters. Ryan walked four and hit one and allowed four hits while Pittman walked only two and gave up five hits.

Allison Readnour's two-run triple in the first staked Ryan and the Chargers to an early lead. Crysta Hoffman's RBI single capped a two-run rally in the bottom of the sixth and scored the decisive run.

Lauren Dowing had an RBI single for the Eagles in their four-run fourth.

"We've gotta start somewhere," Leonhart said. "(Her Eagles) were more aggressive at the plate than I expected them to be. We've had practice outside in the grass but this is the first time we've been on the field since last year."

ACC had lost 4-3 to Trinity Christian the previous week.

"(Defense) is our problem right now," Hallahan said. "We've given up eight runs and only two of them have been earned."

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