Crystal Lake Central’s Oli Victorine strikes out 15, Ella Arana hits leadoff homer in win over Harvard

CRYSTAL LAKE – Crystal Lake Central sophomore Ella Arana provided a jolt with an opposite-field home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning against Harvard.

The no-doubt blast over the left-center field fence gave pitcher Oli Victorine something to get loud about, although the Tigers sensational ace already is pretty excitable.

“She excites everybody every time she touches the ball and she really knows how to fire up the team,” Central coach Brian Strombom said. “Whenever she’s in the circle, she gets everyone riled up and ready to go.”

Victorine had another signature performance Monday, firing seven two-hit innings and striking out 15 batters to lead the Tigers past the Hornets 4-0 in their nonconference game.

Victorine threw 66 of 94 pitches for strikes and didn’t allow a baserunner past second base. Catcher Cassidy Murphy picked off a runner at second base in the third inning. The Hornets put a runner on second with two out in the seventh, but Victorine got a swinging strikeout against Harvard’s Ava Brennecka to end the game.

“I felt my zip on the ball was pretty good today,” said Victorine, who last season as a freshman struck out 170 in 103⅔ innings. “... I felt like I was pounding the outside corner pretty well. My changeup, I worked on that a lot and prepared that because I knew a lot of the girls would probably be on (the fastball).

“I knew they would be looking for it.”

Strombom said Victorine has one of the loudest voices on the team.

“She had a great night,” Strombom said of Victorine, who struck out the first six batters of the game. “She wasn’t ahead of every hitter but she found a way to fight back through at-bats. And the ones where she was ahead, she did what she wanted with every pitch.

“This year, she feels more comfortable. She has more agency, more authority. She’s a great kid.”

Arana’s first-inning home run, her fourth of the season, was all Victorine ended up needing. In the fourth, Arana split the left-center field gap with an RBI double to put the Tigers (21-6) ahead 4-0.

“It felt really good,” Arana said. “Like I said at the start of the season, I want to set the tone for the team, and I think I did that. We weren’t on our best offense today, but I’m glad that I can contribute. I was thinking about attacking strikes the whole day.”

Strombom had a feeling his leadoff hitter might get ahold of one in windy conditions.

“The wind was blowing out to left, and I got to thinking, if she elevates one, even to the opposite field, she’s got the power to do it,” Strombom said. “I didn’t know that it would happen in the first at-bat. That was perfect for what we want to do, we want to jump ahead. That’s got to be our best M.O.

“She’s just a good hitter all the way around. She can slap, she can bunt, she can hit for power, she can put it n the gap and she can run.”

Kate Show had an RBI single in the second to score Cassidy Murphy, who singled to start the inning. Makayla Malone scored a run in the first on a wild pitch.

For Harvard, pitcher Kara Knop allowed four runs on six hits over six innings. She struck out three and walked two. Emma Ribar and Leona Eichholz provided the team’s two hits, both singles.

Crystal Lake Central’s previous game against Hampshire, a 16-13 win, saw the Tigers hit five home runs.

“A great game for her,” Harvard coach Becky Edinger said of Knop’s performance. “She was getting them to do exactly what we wanted today. She did her job, and I’m proud of her. Her fastball was working really well. She had great command all day. And when we wanted to throw the riseball, she could control that pretty well. I was pretty excited about that.”