By Xavier Sanchez
Correspondent
Temperatures are not the only thing starting to warm up in the Southwest Suburbs.
Shepard, which began the season with three consecutive losses, defeated Oak Lawn, 3-0, on April 15 to run its winning streak to seven games.
Astros junior pitcher Kailey Selvage tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out 15 Spartans while allowing two hits and walking one. Selvage also had two hits.
Shepard junior catcher Madison Scapardine had a game-high three hits, including a double, while driving in two runs and scoring once.
Shepard third baseman Meghan Potenza gets ready to field a ground ball during a win over Oak Lawn. Photo by Xavier Sanchez
“Kailey on the mound is huge,” Shepard coach Kelsey Clifford said of Selvage. “Her 15 strikeout was unbelievable. She was just on today.”
The Astros (7-3, 5-0 South Suburban Conference) began their season with three road losses while being outscored 46-17. During their subsequent seven game winning streak, the pitching staff has allowed three runs while the offense is averaging almost 8.5 runs per game.
“We are in the meat of our season and are seeing everything sync together really well,” Clifford said.
Clifford and her team made some adjustments after dropping three first three games, the last of those being a 16-1 rout against Andrew.
Shepard’s Londynn Sedlak scores a run during the Astros’ 3-0 win over Oak Lawn on April 15. Photo by Xavier Sanchez
“We wanted to see ourselves go further in the playoffs and come out with a conference championship, but things did not go our way,” Clifford said. “We made some changes this year, got on them early, talked about what we want to accomplish early, and here we are.”
Shepard has several returning players from last year’s team that finished 21-7 overall and 16-3 in the South Suburban Conference. Those players include senior leaders Brooklyn Sedlak and Sarah Kreamalmeyer. Sedlak had two hits including a double while scoring a run in the win over Oak Lawn.
Sophomore third baseman Meghan Potenza is one of the young Astros stars getting it done at the plate and on the field. Potenza had two hits, including a double, while driving in a run against the Spartans.
“She plays a nice hot corner,” Clifford said of Potenza. “She plays unbelievable defense.”
Shepard’s Grace McGlynn heads into third base while an Oak Lawn fielder awaits the throw. Photo by Xavier Sanchez