Immke ties IHSA all-time record for home runs in the season
By Fred Kroner
In her final regular-season at-bat, St. Joseph-Ogden’s Shayne Immke slammed her 24th home run as a senior, tying the all-time IHSA record for homers in the season.
Immke’s clout came in the sixth inning on Thursday (May 11) at Randy Wolken Field in a 9-7 loss to Charleston.
She moved into a tie for the all-time lead with Taylor Odom, from Goreville, in 2012, and Elaine Walker, from Schaumburg, in 2015, with 24 homers.
The Spartans trailed, 9-3, entering the bottom of the fifth inning. The comeback bid began with home runs by Addison Frick and Katharine Short in the fifth inning. Frick and Short each have five home runs this spring.
Charleston scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never trailed.
Immke led SJ-O, going 2-for-5 with two RBI. Frick also delivered two RBI.
Immke is the eighth slugger in IHSA history to record 50 home runs in a career. Her most recent shot moved her into that exclusive club.
Madison Stevens pitched the first three innings for the Spartans and struck out two batters. Amelia Huckstadt followed with her longest varsity outing of the spring, four innings, and fanned one batter.
SJ-O (24-10) returns to action on Tuesday (May 16) in a semifinal game of the Sullivan Class 2A Regional. The third-seeded Spartans will tangle with either fifth-seeded Sullivan or 11th-seeded Oakwood, who play one another on Monday (May 15) in a quarterfinal contest.
