Manteno, IL — Link to original article: https://southwestregionalpublishing.com/2025/04/04/mantenos-ava-peterson-outduels-peotones-sophie-klawitter/ In a 76-minute game dominated by two elite pitchers, Manteno’s Ava Peterson knew offense would be hard to come by. Maybe not this hard, though. Peterson was one of the pitchers in an Illinois Central Eight opener against visiting Peotone on March 31. She pitched a two-hitter with two walks and 14 strikeouts in the Panthers’ 1-0 win. The senior right-hander also was Manteno’s only baserunner against Peotone’s Sophie Klawitter, a Louisville commit who threw a one-hitter with no walks and 11 strikeouts. Leading off the bottom of the fourth, Peterson led off and beat out a bunt. She stole second and third before scoring on a wild pitch, and that was all the Panthers needed to stay unbeaten. “I was just trying to put the ball in action, to make them make the play,” Peterson said. “You know, strikeouts, popups (are) a little easier (on pitchers). … And it worked out.” Manteno coach Josh Carlile — who picked up his 400th career win later in the week against Bloom — wasn’t surprised by how the game played out with two top-tier hurlers like Peterson and Klawitter facing off. “We’ve seen her for a couple years,” Carlile said. “We know how good (Klawitter) is. We know that she spins the ball a ton, she moves it a ton. (She) does a really nice job with pitch selection and throwing in the right spots. “So we talked the last couple of days about, it’s gonna be a one-run game. We gotta get somebody on and move them, and use our speed when we get on base to put a run up.” Peotone had two scoring opportunities against Peterson. In the third, freshman Abby Christenberry doubled with two out and Klawiter walked before Peterson ended the inning with a strikeout. Christenberry opened the sixth with her second hit, a single, and Klawitter walked again. But Manteno catcher Jaz Manau picked Klawitter off first and Peterson struck out the next two hitters to end the inning. Carlile had total confidence in Peterson, a Washington University of St. Louis recruit. “She’s one of those kids where you almost want her to be in those situations because she really thrives on that pressure,” he said. “The biggest thing, I knew I could trust my defense behind me,” Peterson said. “So (I was) just not trying to do too much and just trying to find ways to keep them off balance and let my defense make the easy plays.” The Panthers had an easier time in the second game of the series, winning 7-1 at Peotone on April 1 as Peterson pitched a two-hitter with no earned runs, one walk and eight strikeouts. She also was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while Aubrei Goudreau went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs. Peotone coach Kim Pagliarulo was upbeat after Monday’s game, especially when it came to Klawitter’s performance. “On fire, per usual,” Pagliarulo said. “She’s a force.” And she liked the Blue Devils’ offensive approach. “We can do better (but) it was a good game,” Pagliarulo said. “We definitely had a lot of good at-bats even though we weren’t doing what we wanted to do with it. Girls were being really smart with what they were swinging at, their IQ is going up every game. The team is getting stronger.”