Richards’ Emily Chavosky didn’t really like playing softball when she started at a young age.

Like a lot of athletes who begin playing sports early, she found those infield rocks to be far more fun to fiddle around with than waiting for someone to hit the ball her way.

“I was super impatient,” she said. “And I was kind of bored.”

Her parents, Joe and Corey, wanted her to stay with softball, so bribery soon entered the picture.

“They paid me a quarter an inning if I didn’t play in the rocks,” Emily said of her parents, who are both Oak Lawn graduates. “It was a good motivator.”

Must be since the junior pitcher is now tormenting her parents’ alma mater.

Chavosky has gone 6-0 against the Spartans, including Tuesday’s 1-0 South Suburban Red victory for the visiting Bulldogs. She threw a no-hitter on April 11 in an 8-0 win over Oak Lawn.

In fourth grade, Chavosky started to love the sport. She’s been pitching on varsity since her freshman year. On Tuesday, she gave up one hit and struck out five for Richards (8-7, 5-2), including two in the sixth inning after the Spartans loaded the bases with nobody out.

Kaitlyn Berkery gave up an unearned run in her gem for Oak Lawn (7-9, 2-7). Teagan Krzystof, who left with a hand injury in the first inning but returned, had the lone hit on a bunt in the sixth.

However, Chavosky got out of that jam, sandwiching a pop out to junior first baseman Abbey Lichter with her pair of strikeouts.

“I’m thinking at that point that we had to show some grit,” Richards coach Julie Folliard said. “That’s where we would find out how tough we were mentally.

“Even as a freshman, Emily had ice in her veins. The bigger the situation, she can lock in and just do her job and we have to do ours.”

Freshman Sarah Scott came through with two hits and also drove in Mia Albon with the lone run during the second inning for Richards (8-7, 5-2), which ended up with only four hits.

Outfielders Skylar Egan, Natalie Hajer and Emily Navarro, a freshman, took turns making big plays to help preserve the shutout. Chavosky said she has faced this scenario before in her career.

“In those situations, you have to rely on your teammates because you can’t do it yourself,” she said. “I put a lot of trust into my teammates.”

Scott, who is friends with Chavosky, has played on teams with her younger sister, Brenna.

“Emily is amazing, and I’ve known her forever,” Scott said. “She has great spin and good speed and very good focus. She never gets in her own head and is a good all-around player.”

But early in the season, things weren’t going as well for Chavosky. Her health wasn’t the best, and that slowed her pitching down a bit.

“I tested for negative for the flu and COVID and I’m not sure what I had,” she said. “I may have had a different strand of the flu. Some days, I couldn’t get out of bed.

“I went to school as much as I could and I did play. It wasn’t my best performance-wise, but I felt like I needed to show up for my team. I recovered from that, and we’re all good now.”

She said she started feeling like herself during a relief stint against Andrew on of all days, April 1. Since then, the Bulldogs are 6-2 in their last eight games.

“She was sick for about three weeks and now she’s feeling better,” Folliard said of Chavosky. “She’s a little more of herself. And our team is getting better as well.

“It’s a nice mix.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.