Springs Valley Community High School

The Springs Valley softball team threw its punches early in Monday’s home opener against Forest Park, scoring five runs in the first two innings. Though the Rangers pushed toward that total at the end of the contest, it proved to be enough as the Blackhawks won 5-3. It wasn’t a pristine victory, the Blackhawks struck out 10 times and had a fielding error among other things, but it was a victory and for opening night that was more than enough. “It’s a win. We’ll take it. No matter how good or how bad, it’s in the record as a win,” Springs Valley coach Jill Stephens said. “There were good things, there were bad things, but we came out hot, we started off mentally strong, our pitching was good and our defense was on-point.” Springs Valley was able to build its early advantage on the back of a small ball style at the plate. Lily Hickman got on base in the first inning, then Brynne Buchanan bunted for a hit behind her. With two outs, Emri Allen put the ball in play and chaos ensued from there. Forest Park tried to get the force out at third but the throw sailed out into left field, allowing both Hickman and Buchanan to score. Capitalizing on the Rangers’ mistakes became the name of the game for the Blackhawks as each of their five runs were unearned. “We’ve never been a program with the biggest hitters, so we’re going to be the smartest and the fastest on the bases and I think we showed that tonight,” Stephens said. “I love causing chaos on the field and I think we had some of that tonight.” The other building block of Springs Valley’s victory was a strong pitching performance from Hickman. The 2022 All-State honoree came out firing against Forest Park, ultimately pitching a complete game. She allowed seven hits, but just three runs and none of them were earned. She also racked up 10 strikeouts. More importantly, she trusted the defenders behind her to make plays when she needed them to, which allowed her to pitch more freely. “She’s starting to understand that she doesn’t have to be 100 percent every single night because our defense is there to help out,” Stephens said. “I think maybe last year she had some issues trusting them and now she knows that they’re going to make those big plays for her whenever a pitch doesn’t hit the right spot or something like that.” Springs Valley (1-0) will try to build on its season-opening victory when it travels to Southridge on Tuesday. The Blackhawks will specifically try to learn from the final inning of Monday’s game, one in which they allowed their focus to slip and allowed not only three runs to cross the plate, but the go-ahead run to come to the plate for Forest Park. “When I made that final visit we talked about it and I told them that we had to bring it together, we weren’t being as sharp as we were, our mental focus had gone,” Stephens said. “They knew it, but they’re still teenagers and sometimes they have to be reminded that this is where we’re at.” BLACKHAWKS 5, RANGERS 3 FOREST PARK;|;SPRINGS VALLEY ;AB;R;H;BI;|;;AB;R;H;BI Begle cf;2;1;0;0;|;Kluesner 1b;3;1;0;1 Geyer ss;4;1;2;1;|;Hickman p;3;1;2;0 Riley p;4;0;2;0;|;Buchanan ss;3;1;2;1 Hassfurther 3b;3;0;2;1;|;McNeely 3b;3;0;0;0 Rasche 1b;3;0;1;0;|;Allen cf;3;1;1;0 Lindauer lf;2;0;0;0;|;Rowlett lf;2;0;0;0 Betz rf;3;0;0;0;|;Bonta 2b;3;0;0;0 Lasher c;3;0;0;0;|;Pantoja c;2;0;0;0 Schnell 2b;3;1;0;0;|;Tucker rf;3;0;0;0 Backer cr;0;0;0;0;|;Robison cr;0;1;0;0 Totals;27;3;7;2;|;Totals;25;5;5;2 Forest Park (0-1);000;000;3—3 Springs Valley (1-0);320;000;X—5 E: Forest Park 3, Springs Valley 1. LOB: Forest Park 3, Springs Valley 1. 2B: Hickman. SB: Buchanan, Hickman, Rowlett. CS: Geyer. SAC: Rasche. ;;IP;H;R;ER;BB;SO Forest Park;Riley (0-1);6.0;5;5;0;1;8 Home;Hickman (1-0);7.0;7;3;0;4;10 HBP: Pantoja (by Riley). WP: Hickman, Riley.