LC makes sacrifices in victory

Updated: April 7, 2011 4:04PM

ST. JOHN - Nikki Adams went 1-for-1 and didn't drive in any runs in Lake Central's game with Crown Point Tuesday.

Yet the Indians' junior first baseman still managed to make a huge impact for Lake Central in a 10-6 come-from-behind victory over the Bulldogs.

Adams put down three successful sacrifice bunts - with the last one leading to five runs in the fifth inning - as the Indians (5-0, 1-0) came from behind three times to tame the mistake-prone Dogs (1-2, 0-1) in the Duneland Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

"The key for us today was the execution of those sacrifice bunts,'' LC coach Jeff Sherman said. "What Nikki did today....I think that's probably the definition of a team player. She puts herself out there and doesn't get to drive in the runs, but her sacrifice bunts led to at least four runs for us.''

Ironically, the day before, Adams belted a homer, went 3-for-3, drove in three runs and scored three times to help the Indians to an easy win over Lowell.

The trio of sacrifice bunts Adams put down on Tuesday, led directly to as many as seven of the 10 runs the Indians scored against the ‘Dogs.

"It shows how well-rounded her game has become,'' said Sherman, of the young lady known more for carrying a big stick and getting clutch hits than for playing small ball.

"She can drive in runs with hits and create runs with bunts. We have confidence in our overall lineup - one through nine. We have confidence in any girl we have bunting up there, because we know the people batting behind them will pick up the runs.''

Crown Point scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead as Allison Amodeo delivered a run-scoring single and freshman Amanda Rock plated two runs with a double.

The Indians, however, responded in the bottom of the frame, using three hits, a walk, two passed balls, an error, a hit batsman, and a wild pitch, to score five runs of their own and take a 9-6 lead.

"Coach Sherman said after the game that if every DAC game is going to be like this, then we're in for a long season,'' Crown Point coach Brett Crutchfield said.

"They're a very good team, and we hung in there with them for a while, but they took advantage of mistakes we made and that really hurt us. We let some trail runners take some extra bases on us and that helped them get some extra runs.

"I told the kids it's still early in the season, but they need to learn something from every game. We're still working out some kinks with the pitchers, but we're hitting the ball well enough to win games. We have to tighten up that defense. We can't make it so the small mistakes turn into big mistakes.''

© 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.