Immke becomes 14th player in IHSA history to reach 20-homerun mark
By Fred Kroner
On the afternoon that St. Joseph-Ogden reached the 20-win mark for the softball season, senior slugger Shayne Immke became the 14th player in IHSA history to hit the 20-home-run mark for a season.
Immke slugged two of the seven homers that the Spartans blasted en route to a 17-2 non-conference victory at Fisher. Her blasts came in back-to-back innings and raised her season total to 20.
Teammates who knocked home runs were Alyssa Acton, Addison Frick, Addy Martinie, Emma McKinney and Katharine Short.
Immke and McKinney each drove three hits for the game. Teammates with two hits apiece were Peyton Jones and Martinie.
Immke and Martinie each collected four RBI. Short drove in three runs. Acton and McKinney knocked in two runs apiece.
Another highlight for SJ-O was Morgan Cramer socking a double for her first career varsity hit.
Madison Stevens yielded seven hits in her five-inning stint, while walking one and striking out a season-high nine batters.
On Monday (May 1), despite home runs from Halle Brazelton and Immke, the St. Joseph-Ogden softball team dropped a 13-10 Illini Prairie Conference decision at Monticello.
Brazelton’s blast was her fifth in the past 10 games.
Jones was 3-for-5 for S J-O, scored two runs and stole two bases. Immke scored three runs and knocked two hits. Sofie Siemsen also delivered two hits. Brazelton had two RBI.
Timera Blackburn-Kelley took the loss, which occurred when the Sages’ Marissa Miller pounded a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was the last of Monticello’s five home runs for the day and the second one for Miller.
SJ-O (20-8) returns to action on Thursday (May 4) at home on Randy Wolken Field against Tolono Unity.
The Spartans have now produced 35 consecutive 20-win seasons in softball (excluding 2020, when the IHSA canceled the entire season due to COVID-19). The last four 20-win seasons have been under coach Larry Sparks, who replaced Wolken in 2019.
