Lady Trojans Strike Out At Regional
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Ranked No. 1 in Class 1A and playing at home, the Lakewood Park Christian Lady Panthers (26-2) wrapped up their fourth-straight regional title with a 9-0 win over Triton (22-9).
While Triton was playing in its first regional game since 2008, Lakewood Park is coming off back-to-back appearances in the state finals, winning the title last year.
Since 2010, Lakewood has compiled a record of 99-20, and flexed its muscle this year by handing Class 4A No. 2 Northridge its only loss of the year, a 6-5 setback in Middlebury on April 6.
“You want to take classifications away and pick the top five teams in the state, this is probably one of them,” Triton coach Steve McBride said.
Helping Lakewood dominate this postseason, outscoring its three opponents 47-0, has been junior pitcher Mikeila Boroff.
Having already committed to play at Butler University, Boroff has struck out 42 batters this postseason, including 18 Lady Trojans.
“She’s good,” McBride said of Boroff, who only gave up one hit. “The best we’ve seen – the best team we’ve seen this year, and we’ve seen some good ones.”
Striking out two of the first three batters she faced, Boroff received some support in the bottom of the first.
Following a leadoff groundout, sophomore Brooke Herendeen was walked by Triton junior pitcher Mallorie Jennings, which was followed by senior Courtney Sliger reaching on an error, which scored Herendeen.
Down 1-0, Jennings then struck out junior Jaclyn Delagrange, but that was followed by an RBI double by sophomore Brittan Carnahan and a two-run homer by senior Suzanne Grimm, digging Triton a 4-0 hole.
“For us to have a chance to win, we needed to keep it a like a one-, two-run ballgame and maybe we could scrounge a few runs,” McBride said. “But once we’re down 4-0, that kind of changes things.”
With Boroff carrying a 1.02 ERA, the four-run lead put the Lady Panthers in a very positive frame of mind.
“We get pretty confident, but we don’t want to say it’s the ballgame,” Lakewood coach David Carnahan said. “If we give her a lead, we know what we’re going to get. We’re going to get good pitching and, honestly, I’m very confident in our defense.”
Lakewood added to its lead with two runs in the third and another three in the fifth.
Lakewood will face either Kouts or No. 5 Pioneer, who play their regional game today.
Before thinking about moving on to the 4 p.m. semistate game at Clinton Prairie Saturday, Carnahan was sure to keep his girls focused on Triton.
“One thing we’ve talked about all season is being prepared for your competition,” he said. “Triton’s a good team. They’ve had a good season. Congrats to them. We’ll go ahead and let them win it next year in the 1A regional.”
Lakewood won’t mind seeing Triton win next year’s regional, as it will be bumped up to Class 2A based on it recent success.
For that, McBride is thankful.
“I’m proud of our kids,” he said. “We didn’t back down and we haven’t backed down all year. We were just out-talented. They had more talent than we did. But you know what? They move up to (Class) 2A next year and I have everyone back.”
Triton’s top returnee will be Jennings, who had 244 strikeouts this year, just three behind Boroff.
Jennings struck out four of the first 10 Lady Panthers she faced, but eventually gave in, allowing six earned runs and 11 hits.
“I thought Mallorie pitched well,” McBride said. “She faced a good team.”
Coaching a team without one senior on the roster, McBride wasn’t sure what to expect this year, but he was pleasantly surprised with 22 wins and the school’s second sectional crown.
And despite losing, McBride was happy with how his team performed against the top team in Class 1A.
“We haven’t been to a regional since 2008, so none of these kids have been here,” he said. “I just told them to embrace the atmosphere. I thought they handled it well, because you don’t know how kids are going to respond with a big crowd and being on the road. But I thought, mentally, we were in good shape.
“It’s been a good year for us,” he added. “I’m extremely proud of them.”
And while his team celebrated with the regional trophy, Carnahan also gave praise to Triton.
“They have a good, young team,” Carnahan said. “They’ll be back.”
LAKEWOOD PARK 9, TRITON 0
T 000 000 0 – 0 1 2
LP 402 030 x – 9 11 0
Mikeila Boroff (W, 7IP, 0R, 1H, 18K, 0BB) and Jaclyn Delagrange; Mallorie Jennings (L, 6IP, 9R, 6ER, 11H, 6K, 1BB, 1HR) and Allyson Brown
2B – Brittan Carnahan (LP) 2, Hannah Priskorn (LP), Jamie Budreau (LP)
HR – Suzanne Grimm (LP)
Records: Lakewood Park 26-2, Triton 22-9[[In-content Ad]]
Ranked No. 1 in Class 1A and playing at home, the Lakewood Park Christian Lady Panthers (26-2) wrapped up their fourth-straight regional title with a 9-0 win over Triton (22-9).
While Triton was playing in its first regional game since 2008, Lakewood Park is coming off back-to-back appearances in the state finals, winning the title last year.
Since 2010, Lakewood has compiled a record of 99-20, and flexed its muscle this year by handing Class 4A No. 2 Northridge its only loss of the year, a 6-5 setback in Middlebury on April 6.
“You want to take classifications away and pick the top five teams in the state, this is probably one of them,” Triton coach Steve McBride said.
Helping Lakewood dominate this postseason, outscoring its three opponents 47-0, has been junior pitcher Mikeila Boroff.
Having already committed to play at Butler University, Boroff has struck out 42 batters this postseason, including 18 Lady Trojans.
“She’s good,” McBride said of Boroff, who only gave up one hit. “The best we’ve seen – the best team we’ve seen this year, and we’ve seen some good ones.”
Striking out two of the first three batters she faced, Boroff received some support in the bottom of the first.
Following a leadoff groundout, sophomore Brooke Herendeen was walked by Triton junior pitcher Mallorie Jennings, which was followed by senior Courtney Sliger reaching on an error, which scored Herendeen.
Down 1-0, Jennings then struck out junior Jaclyn Delagrange, but that was followed by an RBI double by sophomore Brittan Carnahan and a two-run homer by senior Suzanne Grimm, digging Triton a 4-0 hole.
“For us to have a chance to win, we needed to keep it a like a one-, two-run ballgame and maybe we could scrounge a few runs,” McBride said. “But once we’re down 4-0, that kind of changes things.”
With Boroff carrying a 1.02 ERA, the four-run lead put the Lady Panthers in a very positive frame of mind.
“We get pretty confident, but we don’t want to say it’s the ballgame,” Lakewood coach David Carnahan said. “If we give her a lead, we know what we’re going to get. We’re going to get good pitching and, honestly, I’m very confident in our defense.”
Lakewood added to its lead with two runs in the third and another three in the fifth.
Lakewood will face either Kouts or No. 5 Pioneer, who play their regional game today.
Before thinking about moving on to the 4 p.m. semistate game at Clinton Prairie Saturday, Carnahan was sure to keep his girls focused on Triton.
“One thing we’ve talked about all season is being prepared for your competition,” he said. “Triton’s a good team. They’ve had a good season. Congrats to them. We’ll go ahead and let them win it next year in the 1A regional.”
Lakewood won’t mind seeing Triton win next year’s regional, as it will be bumped up to Class 2A based on it recent success.
For that, McBride is thankful.
“I’m proud of our kids,” he said. “We didn’t back down and we haven’t backed down all year. We were just out-talented. They had more talent than we did. But you know what? They move up to (Class) 2A next year and I have everyone back.”
Triton’s top returnee will be Jennings, who had 244 strikeouts this year, just three behind Boroff.
Jennings struck out four of the first 10 Lady Panthers she faced, but eventually gave in, allowing six earned runs and 11 hits.
“I thought Mallorie pitched well,” McBride said. “She faced a good team.”
Coaching a team without one senior on the roster, McBride wasn’t sure what to expect this year, but he was pleasantly surprised with 22 wins and the school’s second sectional crown.
And despite losing, McBride was happy with how his team performed against the top team in Class 1A.
“We haven’t been to a regional since 2008, so none of these kids have been here,” he said. “I just told them to embrace the atmosphere. I thought they handled it well, because you don’t know how kids are going to respond with a big crowd and being on the road. But I thought, mentally, we were in good shape.
“It’s been a good year for us,” he added. “I’m extremely proud of them.”
And while his team celebrated with the regional trophy, Carnahan also gave praise to Triton.
“They have a good, young team,” Carnahan said. “They’ll be back.”
LAKEWOOD PARK 9, TRITON 0
T 000 000 0 – 0 1 2
LP 402 030 x – 9 11 0
Mikeila Boroff (W, 7IP, 0R, 1H, 18K, 0BB) and Jaclyn Delagrange; Mallorie Jennings (L, 6IP, 9R, 6ER, 11H, 6K, 1BB, 1HR) and Allyson Brown
2B – Brittan Carnahan (LP) 2, Hannah Priskorn (LP), Jamie Budreau (LP)
HR – Suzanne Grimm (LP)
Records: Lakewood Park 26-2, Triton 22-9[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092