Gianni Iannantone really hates first-pitch strikes.
Andrew’s junior second baseman showed that Monday when she took one from Lockport pitcher Justine Cielinski with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Immediately, Iannantone did a pirouette and hopped up and down several times.
“I do that a lot,” Iannantone said with a laugh. “It was a nice pitch, right there. But you have to take that pitch. Patience is key in that situation.”
Her patience paid off when the next four pitches were out of the zone. Iannantone took each one and cashed in the walk for the game-winning RBI as Andrew prevailed 9-8.
Iannantone, an Indianapolis commit, also doubled and reached base four times, while seniors Cierra Taylor and Kayla Plastiak both hit home runs for the Thunderbolts (4-1).
Zara Voulgaris was 3-for-4 for Lockport (3-2).
The Thunderbolts slowly, methodically loaded the base after two outs in the seventh when Cassie Hoppenrath drew a walk, Katie Staisiunas singled on a swinging bunt and Kaitlin Lynch reached on an error.
Iannantone watched with ever-growing eyes.
“I was just staying patient and hoping that my team would show all the hard work we’ve done,” she said, smiling. “And I think it definitely showed in the end.”
Most of Andrew’s run production in the back-and-forth battle was of the explosive variety.
Taylor’s grand slam came with two outs in the second inning. It was her third homer of the season.
“Right now I’m seeing the ball really well,” Taylor said. “I didn’t have my best day (1-for-4), but I came up good in a big moment and knew my team would have my back the whole way through.”
Plastiak’s two-run homer in the fifth forced a 7-7 time. It was her second of the season.
Taylor and Plastiak combined for 16 home runs and 72 RBIs in 2015. They’re the power core of Andrew’s offense.
“I guess you could say that power is one of the good factors we have,” Plastiak said. “But we also look for base hits one at a time. Even in those key moments when we can’t come up with the power hit, we’re still finding ways to score runners and end up winning the game eventually.”
Hoppenrath (3-1), meanwhile, was the winning pitcher for Andrew. The junior left-hander allowed 12 hits but came up clutch in the top of the seventh.
After Lockport earned an 8-8 tie on a sacrifice fly by Gracie Voulgaris, Hoppenrath stranded runners on second and third by getting the final two outs.
Lockport battled back from three deficits to get into a position to steal the win, but ended up paying when four errors led to runs.
“We’re young and working through some kinks,” Porters coach Marissa Chovanec said. “We need the pitchers to keep throwing some strikes. Defensively, we fell apart, to say the least. But we did a lot of good things offensively. It’s early.”
Twitter @tbaranek
