ROSCOE, Ill. — Aislynn Palmer was a little disappointed she couldn’t pitch one more inning on Monday at Swanson Park.
The Hononegah sophomore had herself to blame for that. She cracked a one-out double in the sixth inning and courtesy runner Emma Tapia trotted home when Danielle Franz followed with another two-bagger against visiting Freeport.
That put the finishing touches on a 10-0 victory stopped after six innings by the mercy rule.
Palmer had good reason for wanting to keep going. She had already amassed 15 strikeouts, including the first 11 in-a-row, in a dominating no-hit performance.
“I’d pitched a no-hitter in travel ball, but not for Hononegah,” said Palmer, who was All-NIC-10 as a freshman.
Palmer had opened the season with a 4-hit, 14-strikeout 2-0 victory over Hersey back on a chilly March 19 and had experienced a bit of tenderness in her shoulder afterwards.
“I had a shoulder impingement, but it doesn’t bother me anymore,” she said. “I’m feeling great and my arm feels great, particularly in this weather. It’s beautiful.”
Maybe not for the visiting Pretzels. After 11 of them had struck out, they finally broke the string when first baseman Natalie Kinney nabbed a foul pop-up to end the fourth inning.
By that time Hononegah was up 6-0.
The Indians scored three in the first inning when freshman Irelyn O’Brien smacked a bases-clearing triple to right center with two outs.
Freeport committed two costly errors as Hononegah added two runs in the second. An RBI double by another freshman, Mackenzie Haas, highlighted that inning. Mali McMaster tacked on a sixth run in the third with an RBI single.
Freeport’s best chance for a hit came in the fifth when Cameren Plowman walked and Morgan Cox hit a liner that freshman second baseman Kaelyn Kelly leaped to spear and then double off the runner at first.
“As for the people who criticized me for keeping three freshmen, they should see what these kids are doing,” Hononegah head coach Denny McKinney said. “They’re really playing well. The whole team is hitting the ball. This was a great team effort.
“We came off the weekend (going 3-0 Saturday in an Antioch invitational) accomplishing what we wanted to do heading into this week and I think we made a good statement today about who we are.”
Palmer struck out the side for the fourth time in the game in the sixth inning and the Indians ended their day a little early in the bottom of the inning.
“(Catcher) Dani (Franz) was calling the game and she just knew what I should throw,” the right-hander said. “What she was calling was exactly what I was thinking of throwing.”
McKinney usually selects what pitches he wants to see, but he likes the duo’s rapport and let the senior catcher do her own thing.
“Dani and Aislynn work well together,” he said. “Tonight no one was catching up to Aislynn. She just pounded the zone the whole game.”
Hononegah won its ninth straight and improved to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in NIC-10 play. The Indians head to Rockford Auburn on Wednesday and host Harlem on Friday.
• LINESCORE:
HONONEGAH 10, FREEPORT 0
Freeport 000 000 — 0 0 8
Hononegah 321 031 — 10 7 0
Leading hitters: H, Kelly 1x3, 2 runs; Haas 1x3, 1 run, 1 rbi; Palmer 1x4, 1 rbi; Franz 1x3, 1 rbi; O’Brien 2x3, 2 runs, 3 rbi; McMaster 1x1, 1 run, 2 rbi. 2B: Palmer, Franz, Kelly, Haas. 3B: O’Brien.
Pitching: F,Plowman (L) 5.1-7-10-6-3-2. H, Palmer (W) 6.0-0-0-0-2-15.
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