The Elmwood Park Tigers will challenge the South Elgin Storm at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Elmwood Park's tournament run continued when they took on Palatine on Saturday. The Tigers had just enough and edged out the Pirates 2-1.
Leilani Mendez
| 05/03/25 vs Palatine | 6 |
| 05/03/25 vs Glenbrook South | 7 |
| 04/29/25 @ Glenbard East | 9 |
| 04/11/25 vs Leyden | 8 |
| 04/10/25 @ Rolling Meadows | 7 |
| + 3 more games |
Leilani Mendez spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned run on six hits and racked up six Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in eight consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Elmwood Park saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Carole Akers, who went 1-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
Meanwhile, South Elgin had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.8 runs) and they went ahead and made it six on Tuesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Tomcats a 25-0 shutout. The Storm might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 13 games by seven runs or more this season.
Liv Miller was a standout: she went 3-for-4 with six RBI, three doubles, and two runs. Those three hits gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jenna Sheehan, who went 2-for-3 with four runs, five RBI, and one triple.
South Elgin hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. The team has now struck out at least five batters in six consecutive contests.
South Elgin's win was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-4. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.6 runs on average over those games. As for Elmwood Park, their win bumped their record up to 6-12.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Elmwood Park has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like South Elgin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.
