Crystal Lake Central junior pitcher Oli Victorine and her Tigers teammates were eager to touch dirt Friday.

“This was my first time touching dirt since November,” said Victorine, an Illinois commit. “We haven’t been out here yet. I wasn’t really sure how the field would be because of all the rain (and snow) we had gotten. It was playable, it was good dirt. It felt so good to be back out here.”

Victorine, a junior, was in midseason form against Wauconda, striking out 16 batters and allowing only two hits. Sophomore shortstop Harper Wright backed up her ace with two RBI singles, and the Tigers earned a 2-0 season-opening victory.

Central (1-0), after claiming the opener, now enters spring break until its next game March 31.

“Everybody is just trying to get on the field. You want to play just because you want to see where you stand and what you can improve,” Central coach Brian Strombom said. “Often times just being on the field playing in game is what is most needed. I was just grateful we had a chance to play, a chance to win, and a chance for Oli to show what she can do.

“Our defense stuck with her and made plays to help her. I thought it was a nice team win.”

Victorine allowed only three baserunners (two hits, one walk) all game, twice stranding runners at second. She pitched around a two-out double to Maddie May in the top of the first and she left a Wauconda runner on second base in the sixth with the Tigers holding a 1-0 lead.

Victorine, who earned All-State Class 3A first-team honors as a sophomore with a 11-4 record, 1.06 ERA, 183 strikeouts and 23 walks in 106 innings, had all of her pitches working Friday.

“My changeup was looking good tonight, so I was happy with that,” said Victorine, who threw 81 of 117 pitches for strikes. “Fastball and rise ball were working well. Overall it was working. I had a good warmup, I took my time with it. I just made sure I was ready and stretched.”

Strombom felt Victorine had good command of all her pitches and locations.

“I thought, really, she was pitching every pitch that she wanted for a strike,” Strombom said. “She’s going through these lineups three times, and she didn’t give into anybody and still found ways to make pitches with two strikes. She kept throwing the ball where she wanted to. She has great control, and that is so important to us, that we don’t give extra baserunners, and she gave nothing.

“What I liked from her late is she was using the inside. She was really shifting it and forcing them to guess a little bit more.”

Wright put the Tigers ahead 1-0 in fourth inning with a two-out single to center field to score Victorine, who reached on an error and advanced to second. In the sixth, with Illinois-Chicago commit Ella Arana standing on second after a hit and steal, Wright again came up big with a two-out RBI hit to center field.

Both hits came on the first pitch Wright saw.

“I was ready for it,” Wright said. “Ella and Oli, they both executed out there. I just wanted to help move it along. It made me feel really good.”

Strombom said Wright will have a bigger role this season.

“It was a lot of watching for me,” Wright said of last year. “I learned how to adjust to situations. This year, I’ll be put in different situations, more opportunities. I’m happy that I’m able to come up in those spots. I think last year taught me how to be adaptable.”

“In my mind we need some people to replace some of the stalwarts we had in the past, and Harper is one of our best candidates to do that on offense,” Strombom said. “I just love that she’s coming in with athleticism, more leadership and even more passion to improve.”

For Wauconda (1-2), junior Aubrey Fetingis allowed only three hits in her six innings of work. She struck out five, walked a pair and allowed3 one earned run.

Wauconda coach Tim Orisek said Fetingis never gave in.

“She looked fantastic. She’s going to be in the circle for us quite a bit. Her and Georgia (Reimers) are going to be our go-to,” Orisek said. “I think she did a great job. She got ahead of hitters, she really attacked the zone. And kudos to some of (Central’s) hitters for getting the barrel on the ball a few times.

“We didn’t let the big inning happen, which was nice. I was proud of our girls. This might have been the best defensive game we’ve played, and this is where I think we can be. We’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of great kids.”