Naegele, Norton lead way for Oak Forest

Updated: April 7, 2011 4:04PM

Smart hitting and baserunning gave Oak Forest an early advantage.

Clutch pitching maintained it.

A big bang put it away.

The No. 9 Bengals' 6-1 South Suburban Conference crossover victory Tuesday over host Lemont wasn't exactly a complete work of art.

It did, however, feature a lot of the elements that have helped Oak Forest win five consecutive conference titles under coach Paige Stryczek.

Right-hander Emily Norton overcame five walks with nine strikeouts to record the pitching win, while Emily Naegele socked a three-run home run and Samantha Bal contributed two RBI for the Bengals (9-2, 6-1).

Erin Keefe walked and scored the only run of the game for Lemont (3-3. 3-3).

The smart hitting was provided by No. 9 hitter Felicia Turk, who on a day when many of the Bengals were overswinging and popping up, coaxed two walks from Lemont hurler Becka Anderson.

"I was just taking my time and looking for the right pitch," Turk said.

The first walk, with one out in the third, led to two runs when after Jourdan Skirha reached on a fielder's choice, Bal launched a line single to right.

Turk scored easily, but smart baserunning followed when Bal intentionally got herself into a rundown to allow Skirha to also cross the plate before Bal was tagged out.

"That's instinct," Bal said. "We practice it every time we practice. When we're on the bases (Stryczek) makes us get into those rundowns and just get used to those situations to get those runners in."

Norton, meanwhile, pitched in and out of trouble all afternoon. She was burned only once by her wildness, when after Keefe walked to lead off the fifth, Erica Nagel singled and Carly Jaworski reached on an infield grounder.

It was 2-1 through five innings, but then Lemont's defense broke down in the top of the sixth. The Bengals loaded the bases without a hit before Norton launched a sacrifice fly to right, and Naegele hit a line-drive rocket over the left-field fence for her third homer of the season.

In her two previous at-bats, Naegele had popped out.

"When you pop up a lot (Stryczek) assumes you're swinging for the fences," Naegele said, laughing. "I didn't want her to assume I was swinging for myself, so I was really trying to hit it on the ground there.

"She was like, ‘That was a lucky home run!' That was a line drive. I was like, ‘OK, well, thank God.' Luckily it traveled out fast to give us some cushion runs."

© 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.