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GEORGETOWN, DEL. —
On a team that features a pair of dominant seniors and several talented sophomores and freshmen, sometimes its sole starting junior gets overlooked.
Still, even Sussex Central head coach John Wells knows his team would not be the same without the services of Lauren Illian.
Illian, who can play several positions on the field, quietly puts up solid numbers at the plate and on defense for the Lady Knights on a regular basis.
“She’s one of the keys to our success,” Wells said of Illian.
Friday afternoon in a conference rout of Seaford, Illian hit her first home run ever.
Following the homer and win, Illian answered a few questions for the Sussex Countian.
Q Did you know your hit was a home run when it left the bat?
A No, I thought it was going to hit the fence. But when it went over, I was happy, just because it’s another run to help the team. Anything I can do to get us a run is a good thing.
Q Coming into this game, you knew Seaford had struggled this season. How do you make sure not to play down to that level?
A Every game we treat it like it is the most important of the season. It doesn’t matter who you play, you have to take it one game at a time.
Q Following that was a lull for you guys in losing to Sussex Tech and Delmar, you’ve been on a roll. What’s the difference in this team now?
A I think we went back and looked at what we weren’t doing right and fixed it. We practice hard and keep working to get better.
Q How important is it to keep winning now with a few tough games left and then the tournament coming?
A It’s always important to win, but we want to get a good seed in the tournament too, so we need to keep winning. We still have some good teams left, so we’ll need to be at our best.
Q If you are at your best once the tournament begins, what can this team accomplish?
A We can accomplish anything we want if we are playing our best. Our goal is to win it all.
On a team that features a pair of dominant seniors and several talented sophomores and freshmen, sometimes its sole starting junior gets overlooked.
Still, even Sussex Central head coach John Wells knows his team would not be the same without the services of Lauren Illian.
Illian, who can play several positions on the field, quietly puts up solid numbers at the plate and on defense for the Lady Knights on a regular basis.
“She’s one of the keys to our success,” Wells said of Illian.
Friday afternoon in a conference rout of Seaford, Illian hit her first home run ever.
Following the homer and win, Illian answered a few questions for the Sussex Countian.
Q Did you know your hit was a home run when it left the bat?
A No, I thought it was going to hit the fence. But when it went over, I was happy, just because it’s another run to help the team. Anything I can do to get us a run is a good thing.
Q Coming into this game, you knew Seaford had struggled this season. How do you make sure not to play down to that level?
A Every game we treat it like it is the most important of the season. It doesn’t matter who you play, you have to take it one game at a time.
Q Following that was a lull for you guys in losing to Sussex Tech and Delmar, you’ve been on a roll. What’s the difference in this team now?
A I think we went back and looked at what we weren’t doing right and fixed it. We practice hard and keep working to get better.
Q How important is it to keep winning now with a few tough games left and then the tournament coming?
A It’s always important to win, but we want to get a good seed in the tournament too, so we need to keep winning. We still have some good teams left, so we’ll need to be at our best.
Q If you are at your best once the tournament begins, what can this team accomplish?
A We can accomplish anything we want if we are playing our best. Our goal is to win it all.
