Klonowski keeps her head for St. Laurence

Junior right-hander strikes out 16 as Vikings shut down Stagg: ‘If anything is at my face, I just duck.’

St. Laurence pitcher Sarah Klonowski wasn’t giving away much of anything Monday.

But when a spinning liner came at her head, Klonowski went with Option B.

She ducked. The ball dropped near second base for an infield single.

A bit earlier Stagg pitcher Erin Cowe was struck in the mask by a vicious line drive.

Klonowski hadn’t forgotten.

“Oh, I was totally thinking about it,” she said. “Plus, last year in high school ball I actually got hit in the face as well.

“It’s kind of a fight-or-flight response at this point for me. If anything is at my face, I just duck.”

Save for the safety dance, Klonowski was heads-up for the Vikings in a 5-0 nonconference victory over the host Chargers.

Emma Lotus and AJ Juarez each had two hits for St. Laurence (17-10). Klonowski finished with a career-high 16 strikeouts while spinning a four-hit shutout.

Emma Faubel came through with three hits for Stagg (4-14-1).

Klonowski (15-5) is in her third season on the varsity, but her first as the team’s No. 1 pitcher. The junior right-hander has 137 strikeouts in 112 ⅔ innings.

Her fastball had Stagg swinging late. Her changeup had a few batters frozen.

But that isn’t all St. Laurence coach Teagan Walsh appreciates about Klonowski.

“She’s also brilliantly smart,” Walsh said. “We’ve got charts to wear on their wrists for the pitching signs. Sarah has memorized the numbers, so she’s ready to pitch and (catcher Angelina) Seropian is trying to get the signs.

“We kind of laugh about it.” Being the staff ace?

“At first it did intimidate me a lot,” Klonowski said. “But then as the games went on, I got more comfortable in my surroundings.

“‘Ange’ catching especially helped a lot. She was cheering me on, letting me know what’s working and what’s not. Overall, I just embraced it and grew into it.” Seropian can tell the difference. “This season Sarah has really stepped up,” Seropian said. “She’s one of our leaders now. She has a little chip on her shoulder.

“Before, I was trying to toughen her up. Now you can see that grit, you see that fire when she wants to strike somebody out or get a big play.”

Everybody on the field and in the grandstands went silent after the scary moment in the top of the third inning.

With one out, Lotus hit a scorching line drive right up the middle. Cowe, who was wearing a mask, got her glove up. The contact came square in the middle of her chin area.

The ball fell to the ground, as did Cowe.

She stayed face down with minimal movement for nearly five minutes.

“At first, when I fell down, I didn’t know if it hit my mask or not,” said Cowe, who learned Tuesday she has a fractured jaw. “Then it took me a few seconds to figure out what actually was happening. Then I was in pain.

“It just went so fast. I needed time to try and replay what happened and figure out how bad it hurt.

“I was in shock. After that, I thought I had to get up and do something just to come back from that.”

Remarkably, Cowe not only stayed in the game, she struck out the next batter.

Over at first base Lotus was a bit shaken.

“It was really scary,” Lotus said. “I felt really, really bad. When I was running to first base, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I hope she’s not hurt.’

“It was good to see her get up and keep pitching. Even though it was my own teammate, it was good to see her get that strikeout.”