Antioch finally stops stubborn St. Viator

St. Viator's softball season came to an end on Saturday, but not before the Lions made one final rally in its own Class 3A regional championship.

Trailing 6-1, No. 4-seeded St. Viator got back to within 6-5 with 4 runs in the fourth inning before No. 5 Antioch was able to put away a 9-5 victory and advance to the Norridge sectional.

“Antioch is a very athletic team and got some timely hits when it needed to,” said St. Viator coach John Scotillo. “Our girls worked hard all season which led to a lot of success. We had more than double our wins last year.”

St. Viator (19-14) jumped ahead 1-0 in the first.

Gina Mastrodomenico drove in the first run with a sinking line drive to center. The Sequoits, though, answered with 5 runs on 5 hits in the fourth inning.

The Lions' fifth-inning rally stared with a walk to Cam ValValkenburg.

Krystal Harris (3 hits) and Sam Hogan then singled back-to-back and Tess Kaiser drew a bases-loaded walk.

Mastrodomenico drove in her second run on a fielder's choice to second base.

Kristen Hackel (2 hits) singled to right driving in the third run and an errant throw led to another run.

Antioch scored three times in the seventh to seal the verdict.

“We have been coming from behind a lot this year so everyone felt confident,” Scotillo said. “But (Antioch's 3-run seventh inning) was too big a hurdle to overcome.”

Fenwick 4, Leyden 0: No. 3-seeded Fenwick won its second straight regional with the 4-0 victory over No. 6 Leyden.