Nicole Pihl blasted her state-record 19th homer on Saturday and has 79 RBI.
Photo by Nora Baima
the pitcher did not have a good day Saturday.
However, Nicole Pihl the hitter had a historic day.
The super sophomore from
Seneca (Ill.) stepped to the plate with a runner on first in the last of the ninth inning and hammered a 3-2 pitch high over the center field fence for her state-record 19th home run and a dramatic 6-5 Class 2A sectional semifinal softball victory over Chicago Christian (Palos Heights, Ill.).
She told MaxPreps, "After coming off kind of a poor pitching performance (she gave up all five runs in two different appearances), I knew I had to make up for it. I wasn't really swinging for it. I'm extremely happy I hit it, but more happy that we won."
Seneca coach Dan Stecken called the ending "very story book. When it left her bat, I knew it was gone. A lot of teams have been pitching around her (she has 33 walks). She hadn't seen too many pitches to hit. Today they went after her. She is a special player. Big-time players make big-time hits in big-time games. She hits rockets all the time."
The 6-foot slugger responded with a 3-for-4 day which also included a booming double and single.
Pihl also has 79 runs batted in and has a shot at that state record (81) on Monday when the Fighting Irish (30-8) play for the sectional crown against
Momence. She is batting a lofty .531 with 18 doubles and has struck out just six times in 113 at-bats. She is 26-8 on the mound with a 1.94 ERA.
Pihl has been playing softball since age eight and travel ball since age 11. She helped the Sun City Sharks place second in the national 14-and-under tournament.
Her freshman year produced a .330 batting average, but just six home runs.
During the off-season, Pihl took hitting lessons from former Michigan All-American Sam Findlay.
"I spent a lot of time over the winter working the kinks out of my swing," she pointed out. "She gave me a lot of confidence. Home runs come with hard swings and I try to get hard swings every time. If they (home runs) happen, they happen."
Pihl doesn't recall pressure from chasing the home run record.
"It was a lot of positive energy – basically from everyone who knew about it," she related. "There will probably be (more pressure next year) and I'm up for that challenge. I hope to get steadily better as the years go on."
More softball notes: *
El Camino Real (Woodland Hills, Calif.) senior
Dani Gilmore tied the state record by scoring 182 runs during her brilliant career, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. The Oregon State University recruit also had 206 RBIs (third), 46 home runs (fourth) and 202 hits (seventh).
*
Andrean (Merrillville, Ind.) senior Nikki Steinbach struck out 15 and drove in both runs during a 2-1 victory over Griffith (Ind.).
*
Elyria (Ohio) defeated Brunswick (Ohio), 7-1, to give coach Ken Fenik his 400th career victory.
*
Lake Catholic (Mentor, Ohio) nipped Padua (Parma, Ohio), 1-0, as junior Bonnie Zappitelli struck out 16. She has not allowed an earned run during his last 50 innings.
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