Jacobs moves on, will face Barrington next
They waited - 93 minutes to be exact - but in the end, it had rained too much to make Jacobs' softball field playable for the top of the seventh inning.
Considering all the games the Golden Eagles had lost in the seventh inning this season, maybe there was some poetic justice to that.
The Eagles registered a 3-1 victory Monday over Crystal Lake Central in the play in game of the Class 4A Cary-Grove regional. The game was halted with a 2-1 count on CLC leadoff hitter Rachel Kautz with no one on and no one out in the top of the seventh. When it finally stopped raining, it would have taken into darkness to get the field playable, so the umpires called it a day.
"I've been there before and it's not a good feeling," said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. "But the conditions weren't safe and it was the right decision."
"It's a shame," said Tigers' coach Brian Strombom. "The kids fought hard and Jacobs did too. I just hate it when it doesn't happen on the field but (the umpires) made the right call."
The win puts fourth-seeded Jacobs (17-13) into a 4:30 p.m. semifinal on Tuesday against top-seeded Barrington, a team the Golden Eagles defeated 7-3 on April 1.
The Tigers (15-14) jumped ahead of Jacobs Monday 1-0 in the third inning on an RBI single from Shannon Ellman. But that came after CLC had loaded the bases with no outs in the first and got a runner to second in the second inning but failed to score.
"That was very important," said Jacobs' winning pitcher Kelsey Peters, who allowed just 5 hits, of getting out the first inning. "That out a lot of pressure on me but I had confidence and knew I could do it."
"That was huge," Bauer said. "That was shaky but (Peters) proved under a stressful situation she could pitch out of it, her team had her back and made some plays and it was huge for our team confidence."
The Golden Eagles finally broke through against CLC's Megan Mahaffy in the bottom of the fourth, and they did so without a hit. Three Tiger errors helped Jacobs take a 2-1 lead as Emily Borg, who walked, scored the tying run on a throwing error. Courtesy runner Corrie Cotugno, running for Kelsey Cummings who reached on a fielder's choice, then scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error.
Jacobs added an insurance run in the sixth when sophomore Katie Borchert hit the first over-the-fence home run of her softball career.
"That home run by Katie Borchert was nice," Bauer said. "That was a little icing on the cake."
Bauer says his team will be loose and ready to take on Barrington, which finished third at the Class 4A state tournament last year.
"We're the number four seed going up against the number one seed," he said. "We're just going to have a lot of fun, play free and know the pressure's on (Barrington)."
Rockford Jefferson 14, Dundee-Crown 12: Jessica McVicker (2B) and Lauren Mercado (2 RBI) each had 3 hits but Dundee-Crown (4-17-1) saw its season come to an end in this play in game of the Class 4A Huntley regional. Mandy Moore was the Chargers' losing pitcher.