Foresters’ Streak of Midwest Conference Titles Ends at Five
Team goes 2-2 at MWC Tourney, falls to host St. Norbert in championship 
  

Christy Condon

Jeanette Andresen

Erin Watts

Tracy Rainey

The Foresters surrendered a run to Ripon in the top of the first inning on Friday but rebounded with two in the second. The first scored on an error and the second on an RBI-single by senior Lisa Jeziorny (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg). Back-to-back doubles by freshman Tracy Rainey (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) and senior Erin Watts (Evergreen Park, Ill./Evergreen Park) and another Red Hawk error plated two more Lake Forest runs in the third. After Ripon scored twice in the top of the fifth, Rainey belted her second home run of the year to lead off the bottom of the frame. Junior Christy Condon (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East) then singled and later scored on a passed ball. Freshman Jeanette Andresen (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) struck out four batters in the victory.

St. Norbert scored twice in both the first and third innings against Lake Forest on Friday. Freshman Mallory Norton (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) hit her fifth home run of the season in the top of the fourth but the Green Knights responded with two in the bottom of the frame to take a 6-1 lead. A three-run home run by Condon in the fifth pulled the visitors to within two but a three-run shot for St. Norbert in the bottom of the inning returned the lead to five. Bases loaded singles by Jeziorny and senior Kim Silvers (Walton, Ind./Lewis Cass) scored two more for the Foresters in the sixth but five tallies by St. Norbert in the inning ended the game.

Andresen threw the 10th no-hitter in team history against Ripon on Saturday. A pair of second-inning walks provided the Red Hawks with their only base-runners of the game. A two-run first-inning single by freshman Shelby Neill (Manitou Beach, Mich./Lenawee Christian) gave Lake Forest the early lead. Consecutive doubles by freshman Jill Pfund (Morenci, Mich./Morenci) and Jeziorny and a run-scoring single by sophomore Hannah Michal (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake) plated two more in the second. Doubles by Michal and Pfund and base hits by Rainey, Condon, Neill, and Watts brought home five more in the fourth.

Condon broke her own school record with her 11th home run of the season in the top of the first inning of the championship game against St. Norbert and Neill followed that up with her seventh of the year. The Green Knights then tied the score with two in the bottom of the frame. Michal led off the third with a single and scored on a base hit by Neill but four St. Norbert runs in the bottom of the inning once again put the home team ahead. Singles by Jeziorny, Silvers, and Michal and a Green Knight error brought home two in the top of the fourth and the Foresters regained the lead on RBI singles by Jeziorny and Silvers in the fifth. St. Norbert, as it did all weekend, responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and four more in the sixth to take a 13-7 lead. Lake Forest scored twice in the seventh on singles by Silvers, Michal, and Rainey, but the visitors were unable to complete the comeback.

Watts batted .556 (5-for-9) and Rainey .500 (7-for-14) on the weekend. Rainey and Condon scored five runs apiece and Condon and Neill each drove in five.

Andresen’s two victories over Ripon gave her an 11-6 record on the year and made her the fourth pitcher in team history to win as many as 11 games in a season. In addition to Condon’s record for home runs, she also set school records for runs scored (45) and total bases (89). The team finished the year 20-16 and set school records with 247 runs scored, 209 RBI, 73 doubles, 32 home runs, 541 total bases, and a .529 slugging percentage. The squad’s .344 batting average ranks third and .400 on-base percentage fourth.

The Foresters four seniors – Jeziorny, Silvers, Watts, and Jenny Riddle (Bloomington, Ill./Normal) – helped lead the Foresters to a record of 107-49-1 over the last four seasons.