Apparently, Oswego’s Aubriella Garza is a very good listener.
The sophomore pitcher took her own advice Monday, continuing to help herself and her team this season at the plate as well as in the circle.
“I mostly just try to make solid contact,” Garza said of her batting feats. “I talk to myself a lot during the game, so when I get up to bat, I’m mostly thinking, ‘Something solid.’
“Anything I can do to help my team out, but at the same time, anything I can do to advance the runner. Things like that. The more little things you can do, the better.”
Garza went one better in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the Panthers trailing 3-2, she started the game-winning rally with her third straight single.
Eight batters later, with a 6-2 lead, Garza capped off the 10-3 nonconference victory over Metea Valley by lining the ball over the fence in left-center for a grand slam.
Mondays definitely don’t get her down. Garza had four hits, including a home run, the previous Monday in a 9-3 nonconference victory over Ottawa.
“Most are really solid hits,” Oswego coach Paul Netzel said. “The one in Ottawa was a shot and broke a tree limb.”
Garza is leading the Panthers (5-2) with a .625 batting average, including team highs of 15 hits, three home runs and 13 RBIs.
Garza wasn’t dominant pitching against Metea (2-5) but certainly was effective.
She scattered eight hits, walked three and hit one but struck out six to win for the fourth time in five starts.
“From my perspective, the strike zone was a little lower than normal,” Garza said. “A lot of my pitches have upward movement. I tried getting lower and that worked better.”
Jacksonville-bound senior catcher Corrin Kennedy, who calls Garza’s pitches, said she has learned a lot about Garza the past 16 months.
“I know once she finds a rhythm to just go with it,” Kennedy says. “If she doesn’t find that rhythm, find something else. Let ‘em put it in play and our defense can make easy outs.
“She’s better this season. She has better pitches, she’s faster and she’s locating as well as she did last year.”
Netzel said Garza, who has an 2.66 ERA, should be confident.
“We’re gonna score more than three runs in a game,” he said. “And the girls behind her can play some good defense.”
Leadoff hitter Reese Valha had two doubles and a single for an offense that continues to produce for Metea.
“We’ve been in every single game — we just have to shut ‘em down that one big inning and we’re gonna be good,” Metea Valley coach Michaela Paprota said. “We’re successful in every other part of the game.”
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Top of her game: Yorkville senior Madi Reeves looks to be ready for a strong finish.
The Miami of Ohio recruit threw a perfect game and won three of the four games she pitched last week to lead the Foxes (8-1) to a top eight finish at a tournament in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
“She definitely showed she’s ready,” Yorkville coach Jory Regnier said. “Madi has been working so hard in the offseason and in the weight room. She’s focused and you can see it. She’s ready to take on anybody.
“She just has that presence on the mound. She’s not just a pitcher on a team. She wants to be part of something.”
The games were limited to an hour and 15 minutes. Reeves pitched eight innings one day, had the next day off and threw nine another day as Yorkville went 5-1.
Topping the chart: Senior pitcher/first baseman Alyssa Perkins hit her second home run of the season and 18th of her career last week for West Aurora in a win over Geneva.
Perkins broke a tie with Cara Jimenez to become the school’s all-time leader. She also has won all three decisions pitching for the Blackhawks (3-0), who are still struggling to get games played.
