Sophomore Schilling sparks rally for Devils

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LOWELL -- Andrean has beaten Lowell and Munster has beaten Andrean.

On Wednesday, Lowell came from behind to nip Munster by a score of 3-2. And so it goes in the early part of the Northwest Crossroads Conference season.

"I think we (Lowell, Munster, Andrean) started the conference just like this two years ago," said Lowell (6-2, 1-1) coach Pete Iussig. "We feel lucky to come away with a win; I'm not sure we outplayed Munster today."

The Mustangs (3-4, 1-1) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning after leadoff hitter Marionna Cane coaxed a walk from Lowell starter Jacki Fletcher. With two down and the count full, cleanup hitter Angelique Zadrozny drove one to Cedar Lake.

"It was a curve ball," Fletcher said. "Honestly, it was a really good hit off a pitcher's pitch. It might have been on the outside corner; she just extended her hands at got the fat part of the bat on the ball."

With a two-run cushion, Munster starting pitcher Shannon Shreibak proceeded to dominate Red Devils hitters the first time through the lineup as she whiffed six and kept Lowell hitless after three innings.

"I thought our pitcher did a nice job," said Munster coach Beth Thornburg. "Defensively, we played pretty well. It's a game of timely hitting. You have to come up with hits when you have runners in scoring position.

"From top to bottom, on any given day in this conference, anybody can be beat."

It was with one out in the bottom of the fourth when Amanda Underwood drew a walk, stole second, moved to third on a Nicole Sgouroudis bunt single, and then scored on a passed ball. Down by a run, eighth-place hitter and right fielder Stevie Schilling came to the plate.

It was the first game as a varsity player for the sophomore, who had gone down swinging in her first at-bat in the second. She came through in the fourth, driving in Sgouroudis from second with a solid RBI single.

The game remained tied after 51�2 innings. Lowell's Nina Ioakimidis led off with a single to right and was sacrificed to scoring position by Underwood. With two down, the rookie, Schilling, came to the plate once more. Again, the No. 8 hitter in the order delivered a solid single, driving in what would be the game-winning RBI.

"I had some nerves," Schilling said. "We obviously couldn't have done it without Jacki (Fletcher); she was awesome. I had a really good support system behind me the whole game. My teammates were cheering me on the whole time. They were giving me the ups I needed for my first game. It was a lot of pressure -- absolutely."