Trojans break game open in late innings

LOWELL - The game between Lowell and Chesterton was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, but Mother Nature and field conditions prohibited that from happening and the game was pushed to Wednesday, which seemed to work just fine for Chesterton. The extra time to prepare seemed to pay off as the Trojans coasted to a 10-4 victory over Lowell.

"We were playing a little sloppy coming into Saturday, the extra days gave us an opportunity to fine tune things and play well tonight," said Chesterton coach Lou Ann Hopson. "We have a blend of veteran and new players and they are working to learn to play well together and that they did tonight."

Although the temperature was low the hit count was high for both teams, which combined for 14 runs on 23 hits.

Chesterton (1-0) got things going early as the Trojans tallied three runs in the top of the first. Lowell came back with one after the first to trail 3-1. Chesterton added one more run and started to coast until the bottom of the fourth inning when Lowell stormed back and racked up three runs to tie the game at 4-4.

Chesterton bounced right back in the top of the fifth when Taylor Harlow connected on a run-scoring double to get the go ahead run in for the Trojans. Chesterton added two more to take the lead at 7-4.

Harlow wasn't done as she came up to bat in the top of the seventh and drove a deep drive over the center field fence to make the score 8-4. Chesterton added two more in the seventh to secure its first win of the season.

Harlow led the Trojans on the offensive side but was quick to acknowledge the entire team's effort.

"The entire lineup hit the ball well despite the cold weather and we came together as a team and played well," said Harlow.

Lowell (0-2) played a solid game in defeat.

"We played very well for the first five innings and then things seemed to fall off for us," said Lowell coach Ginger Britton. "We improved from our play the night before and I told the girls we need to focus to playing seven strong innings and we will be good."

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.