Joliet West’s Savannah Fierke wasn’t at her best in the circle. However, it didn’t matter all that much, as the senior made up for it with an outstanding day at the plate.
With the Tigers trailing in the fifth, the dynamic pitcher showed she’s one of the area’s best hitters, as well, blasting a three-run homer. The homer gave Joliet West the lead for good in a 9-5 win over Plainfield Central on Thursday.
“I was looking for anything low,” Fierke said. “I was just trying to get a base hit, maybe score one run, but she threw me something down the pipe, and I just took it [over the fence].”
Fierke’s homer was the first of her two big hits. She hit a double to right field in the Tigers’ five-run sixth to push her team’s lead to four runs. Brooke Schwall obliterated a ball over the center field fence to put the Tigers up six.
“It eased me a lot. There was a lot of relief,” Fierke said about the big inning. “When you’re up by that much, you don’t have to make every single play. If you make an error, it’s all right, you can bounce back. It helped our defense a lot not to be so tense.”
Fierke and the Tigers (15-2) needed the cushion because Plainfield Central fought hard in the seventh, scoring twice. The Wildcats even had the tying run on deck. Kaia Garnica and Makena O’Donnell each had an RBI single before a flyout ended the rally. Despite striking out 11 Plainfield Central hitters, Fierke admitted she had to power through against a tough lineup.
“It was definitely tough seeing them for the second time this season,” Fierke said. “I knew coming into it I was definitely going to have to use my defense a little bit because they’ve already seen me.”
Fierke’s pitching effort was impressive to her coach, Heather Suca.
“She’s been great for us all season and is a great kid,” Suca said. “She’s always about the team and not about herself, which makes her even better. She’s tired, but she fought threw. She didn’t have all her stuff, but she hung in there.”
Joliet West’s Lanie Chizmark crushed a homer over the left field fence to start the game, and the Tigers held the lead until Plainfield Central scored three times in the fourth inning. Kaia Garnica and Natalie Tatera each delivered run-scoring singles for the Wildcats, but the lead was short-lived, as Fierke’s homer allowed the Tigers to reclaim the lead.
“I was proud of the girls to come out and fight, especially after getting behind,” Suca said. “We haven’t been behind in too many games, so for them to come back right away that next inning and put runs on the board and continue to keep it going (was good to see).
“We made a good adjustment on that pitcher. Took us a while, but we made the adjustments.”