West softball's Murray shuts down rival NCHS 1-0

Thursday, May 15, 2008

By Daniel Makarewicz
 

NORMAL — Jenn Murray wasn’t viewing the light rain and chilling temperatures as a hindrance. In fact, the Normal West High School pitcher embraced the elements.  “I love a challenge,” Murray admitted.  The effort made it obvious.  Pitching with confidence and a chip on her shoulder, Murray unleashed a brilliant performance.   Normal West had not beat NCHS since May 2, 2006.  The junior hurler struck out 17 batters and held Normal Community to two hits in the Wildcats’ 1-0 Big 12 Conference victory at Maxwell Park on Thursday.  “Jenn’s had some perfect games before,” West coach April Schermann said. “I don’t know if it’s her best performance, but definitely one of her top performances.”  Some saw this effort transpire before the game began.  “The way she took the mound in the first inning, I knew we were in trouble because you could see the fire in the eye,” NCHS coach Bob Grimes said. “I thought she pitched probably one of the best games I’ve seen all year.”

The Ironmen (24-3, 11-2) felt the effects.  Murray fanned the side in four innings and retired seven straight via the strikeout at one point. She had 14 batters swing on strike three and had at least two strikeouts in all but one inning.  “It feels good,” Murray said. “It’s surprising.”  Not to those around the team.  “We always knew Jenn was capable of throwing like this,” Schermann said. “We’re very impressed with how she’s throwing right now, but it’s not anything that surprises us.”  The pitching controlled the game through the first two innings — Murray and NCHS pitcher Megan Nonnemacher combined to retire 10 of the first 15 batters on strikeouts — before West seized control. With no one on and two outs in the third, the Wildcats (24-8, 10-3) were able to string together back-to-back singles.  Despite entering the game in an offensive slump, catcher Alex Pflieger lofted a 2-2 offering over a sprawling shortstop to score Cymone Allen from second base.  “I was just due for an actual hit,” Pflieger said. “I was ready for that clutch hit.”  The run-scoring hit seemingly ended the game.  “That’s all we needed,” Murray said.  Pitching with a lead, Murray never lost her edge. She battled around two-out hits in the sixth and seventh innings to close the game.