Softball: Nicole Stone rock-solid, pitches Oswego East past Oswego

OSWEGO – Nicole Stone is one of a group of five pitchers on Oswego East, what seems an unusually large number for a softball team.

So how does she know it’s her day to throw?

While it depends on the game, usually Stone gets the word by fourth period of school, when she has math class with assistant coach Brian Chandler.

“He lets me know,” Stone said. “He’ll ask the class if they’re coming to the game today, because Nicole is pitching. I know when I’m warming up that I have Emma [Lenczewski] and Kenzie [Gatz] warming up too in case they got my number.”

Stone required no backup Friday.

Keeping a potent Oswego offense off-balance throughout, Stone scattered five hits, a walk and a hit batter, striking out three. Stone’s defense had her back, throwing out three runners on the bases. The Wolves batted around in a six-run sixth inning to blow things open and went on to an 8-1 win in the resumption of a Southwest Prairie West game suspended Wednesday.

On a breezy afternoon with the wind blowing in, Stone cooled off an Oswego lineup that came in averaging a tick under 10 runs per game.

They were no secret to Stone, and the familiarity helped.

“I know a lot of them. The beginning of their lineup is definitely hefty,” Stone said. “I went into the game having confidence in myself and my pitches. And I knew my team had my back. My defense did an excellent job, especially in the outfield.”

Oswego East coach Sarah Davies is growing more and more confident with Stone in the circle. The junior has definitely grown up with the help of a growth spurt.

Stone, now 5-foot-9, grew about three to four inches after her freshman year. She also switched pitching coaches and changed her windup. Stone topped out around 55 mph her freshman year, but she was hitting 60 by midway through her sophomore year. Davies, not used to this wealth of pitching depth, has taken to using Stone and Gatz against the toughest teams. Stone and Gatz combined on a two-hitter last week against West Aurora.

“We definitely saw it from her last year and she’s only improved,” Davies said. “Nicole has fantastic composure, she knows what works for her and what doesn’t and she’s very smart. She thinks very critically about who she is pitching against and she works well with [catcher] May [Pasqualini]. She was hitting her spots today, her changeup was working and I think she threw them off. They hit a lot of popups.”

Oswego (11-4, 2-2) scored first, as Zoe Precup singled to lead off the top of the third and scored on a Marissa Moffett sacrifice fly.

But Oswego East (9-6, 2-1) took the lead with two runs in its half of the third, while the Panthers’ bats remained unusually quiet.

“She threw a lot of balls and we were swinging at the first pitch. That’s not something we should have done in that game,” said Moffett, who reached base twice on a single and a walk. “With the wind we needed to hit the ball on the ground. That’s also something we struggled with. We’ll get it the next game.”

Leading 2-1 to the bottom of the sixth, Oswego East had seven consecutive batters reach to bust the game open. Ronnie Craft singled in a run, Finley Anderson singled in two more, Quaid and Gatz had RBI singles and Stone a sacrifice fly.

Craft wasn’t surprised to see the big inning, aided by three of seven walks allowed by Oswego pitchers.

“We’re really good at watching how other teams pitch us, and are really good at recognizing that so when we go up there we’re more confident,” Craft said. “We’re really good at stringing runs together.”

Craft, recently moved to leadoff in Oswego East’s lineup, looks to have taken to the position. She reached on an error in the third and scored the Wolves’ first run, walked in the fourth and singled in the sixth. Mia Corres, Quad and Pasqualini also reached base three times. Precup singled twice for Oswego.

“I always think first pitch early in the count,” Craft said. “That’s when you’ll see the best pitches.”