A new bat and the adrenaline of senior night were the only things Allie Stratman needed to get the St. Edward offense heated up on a cold night at Judson University in Elgin.

That and 125 swings from mom to break the bat in.

Stratman’s laser shot line drive over the left field fence in the bottom of the first inning staked the Green Wave to a 2-0 lead against Wheaton Academy, and St. Edward went on to win the Metro Suburban West softball matchup 8-4.

“I have to attribute that to my mom (Karen),” Stratman said of her third homer of the season. “I got a new bat and she broke it in for me. (The home run) wasn’t even something I was thinking about or even a goal I had for this game. It surprised me as much as anyone.”

Senior Lindsay Zdroik, who also hit a 3-run home run in the third inning — her ninth of the season to go with 47 RBI — to give the Green Wave (16-7, 7-3) an 8-0 lead, allowed 8 hits and struck out 11 to close to within 10 Ks of Jackie Brittain’s all-time school record of 680.

“(St. Edward) is a great team with a great pitcher and a great top of the lineup,” said Warriors coach Sammy Marshall. “But I think we won every aspect of that game except the total runs. The longball hurt us and it’s tough to come back from 8-0 but our hitters kept fighting and we love to see that.”

Rachel Lesh and Clarissa Vargas, the other two seniors honored Wednesday, also got into the early action for St. Edward. Lesh reached on an error to start the first inning and Vargas’ 2-run single completed the Wave’s 5-run opening inning.

“The seniors have done a great job all year,” said first-year St. Edward coach Paul Netzel. “They came to play tonight and they’re just great leaders.”

St. Edward had 9 hits off Wheaton Academy junior Andi Pivaronas, including 2 each from Zdroik and junior Devyn Ernst, but Pivaronas settled down in the later innings and got out of jams in the fourth and fifth innings that could have led to St. Edward making it a run rule game. St. Edward stranded 7 baserunners in the final three innings.

Meanwhile, the Warriors (6-11, 4-7) didn’t fold their tent against Valparaiso recruit Zdroik, even though they were down 8-0.

Wheaton Academy came back with a run in the fifth when Pivaronas drove in junior Meghan Gagliano, who tripled with one out. The Warriors then scored three times in the sixth as Gagliano had a 2-run double and Pivaronas an RBI double. Pivaronas had 3 hits on the night.

— John Radtke

Baseball

Montini 4, St. Joseph 2:

The Broncos (14-8, 5-7) won in the Chicago Catholic League behind starting pitcher Jake Rosley, who stayed unbeaten at 6-0 with his complete-game effort. Cooper Hynes went 2-for-4 and Ben Steiner drove in 2 runs.

Naperville North 6, Neuqua Valley 2:

In a continued game from Saturday’s postponement, the Huskies (9-11, 6-9 DuPage Valley) made their 4-0 first-inning lead hold up. Paul Dobravec went 3-for-4 while Colin Rivard had 2 hits and Matt Schwartz drove in 2 runs. Zach Benaitis was the winning pitcher. Kevin Ringlein and Tyler Cristofaro had 2 hits for Neuqua Valley (14-7, 10-6).

Waubonsie Valley 3, Metea Valley 1:

Jason Neville improved to 7-0 on the season with his 1-hitter for the Warriors (17-7, 12-6 DuPage Valley). Neville, who went 2-for-3, struck out nine and walked none. Connor Yukna also had 2 hits. Anthony Greco’s second-inning home run accounted for the lone hit for Metea Valley (12-13, 7-11).

Glenbard East 10, West Chicago 2:

The Rams (17-7, 6-2) opened up a 9-0 lead after two innings in their Upstate Eight Valley victory. Richard Masciopinto went 4-for-4 while Jake Heyman had 2 hits and 4 RBI and Jack Moran had 2 hits and 3 RBI. Brett Tomlinson was the complete-game winning pitcher.

Glenbard West 13, Proviso West 0:

Andrew Zienty went 3-for-3 with a double, triple and 3 RBI as the Hilltoppers (11-11, 6-5) swept in the West Suburban Silver. Kevin Spencer and R.J. Paul, who drove in 3 runs, also had 3 hits apiece. Winning pitcher Rudy Litavsky had 3 RBI.

Naperville Central 12, WW South 1:

The Redhawks (19-4, 13-2) exploded for 8 third-inning runs in their five-inning DuPage Valley victory. Beau Buchanan, Connor Joyce, Noah Cinzio, Michael Nerger and Austin Sherman combined for 9 hits and 9 RBI. Winning pitcher Zac Bianucci scattered 4 hits.