Oak Forest leads Lemont

Updated: April 28, 2011 9:15PM

Emily Naegele used to be a Lemont Rocker. Now, she just rocks Lemont.

The Oak Forest junior catcher blasted a three-run homer on April 5, the first time the two South Suburban Conference rivals played.

Thursday, she hit two more round-trippers and drove in five runs as Oak Forest built a 7-0 lead before rain interrupted play, forcing the contest to be suspended. The game is to be continued at 4:30 p.m. today, with the Bengals batting in the bottom of the fourth.

Naegele, a member of the summer team out of Lemont in 2009, went opposite field for both homers.

But it wasn’t as if she picked on mistakes.

“She’s a great hitter,” Lemont coach Christine Traina said. “You have to try to pitch her as far out as you can go, and still she goes out and gets it. We tried to keep the ball away from her, but she’s just too good of a hitter.”

Including Thursday’s stats, Naegele is hitting .600 for the season (24-for-40), with seven homers and 22 RBI.

Her three-run first-inning blast Thursday was a rocket, following singles by Sam Bal and Emily Norton. Her second, a two-run blow after a Norton double, was hit sky-high and rode the wind over the fence in right field.

“I don’t know, it must be something about Lemont,” a smiling Naegele said. “I always seem to do pretty good against them.

“The first one definitely felt like a home run, but the second one maybe had a little luck involved. Coach (Paige) Stryczek said it looked like a Tiger Woods swing. Not so good.”

Felicia Turk also had a big hitting day for the Bengals (14-2, 10-1) with two doubles and a run.

Norton, meanwhile, struck out four, but also walked two and allowed three Lemont hits.

“We put the ball in play,” Traina said. “But we still have to be more selective, more disciplined at the plate. We didn’t do our jobs. Hopefully we can come back (today) and give them a better game.”

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