Izzy Thurman can catch. The Homewood-Flossmoor junior has a little experience behind the plate. She’s caught all of six games.
When injuries forced the Vikings to go to their third option at backstop against Manteno on April 16, Thurman wasn’t worried. She was excited.
“When I catch, I see pitches really well (while hitting),” Thurman said. “I love catching. I just love catching.”
She certainly seemed to see the ball well against Manteno. Thurman was 4-4 with two home runs, a double and six RBIs. She sent everybody home with a three-run blast in her final plate appearance to give the Vikings an 8-7 win.
“Izzy’s been hot all day. She’s been finding her groove, especially on offense, and she stepped up for us in a big way behind the plate,” Coach Corinne Zimmerman said. “Sometimes you can just tell as they go up to bat. She was calm, cool and collected.”
Thurman looked comfortable even before that final at bat. She looked relaxed, even, dancing and laughing with teammate Kathleeen Karner in the on-deck circle as the Panthers talked things over at the pitching rubber.
“I like those pressure situations. You’re either going to do it or you’re not, so don’t stress,” Thurman said. “If I don’t do it, the next person up is going to, or the next person. You don’t have to get a big hit, just a little poke. Just a little poke.”
The poke she got was not little.
Thurman took the very first pitch from Macy Iwanus and rocketed a line drive over the fence in left-center field. It looked like she knew the pitch and location that was coming.
“When I catch, I get a better feel for the umpire, and I’d seen (Iwanus) in two other at bats. She’s a lefty so the spin she has usually tails outside so I just scooched up a little on the plate because she wasn’t throwing anybody inside,” Thurman said. “Dude, it was at my knees, middle. Money. I was like ‘That is the pitch.’”
For much of the evening, the Vikings didn’t look like they’d need those kinds of heroics.
Manteno loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning but H-F pitcher Kaylee Vitolka got out of it, tallying the third out with a strikeout of Julie Ott. The Panthers didn’t score, and the Vikings brought in three in the bottom half on Thurman’s first round tripper.
H-F added two more in the third and took a 5-1 lead into the final frame. Manteno had seven hits and scored six in the seventh inning.
The day before, the Vikings gave up 17 runs in a loss to Lincoln-Way Central. Manteno came into the game with a 7-2 record, ranked No. 15 in Class 2A by the Illinois Softball Coaches Association.
Zimmerman told her team she was never worried.
“I knew we were either going to tie it or win it,” Zimmerman said. “We just said how we perform today dictates who we are, not what we did yesterday. This is who we are.”
Demi Chaney had a double and two RBIs. Ana Webber was 3-4 with a double and two runs.
“Today was Izzy’s day. Tomorrow, it’s going to be somebody else,” Zimmerman said. “This is a truly special team. We step up for each other.”