Bellack's hit lifts South Elgin past Streamwood
After Streamwood rallied from 4 runs down in the top of the sixth inning to tie things up, South Elgin pitcher Karli Dobler wasn't worried about the home team finishing with a win in the Upstate Eight Conference softball crossover game on Tuesday.
Dobler went the distance allowing 10 hits, walking 4, hitting 1 batter and striking out 3, and she got the win after Stacy Bellack's bloop single down the right field line sent the winning run across for an 8-7 victory.
"When they tied it, I didn't have any doubts," Dobler said. "My team was hitting the ball well today, and I knew they had my back."
The Sabres (3-9, 0-4) were looking to end an 8-game skid and showed their fight in the top of the sixth with a 4-run rally that started with two outs and nobody on to erase a 7-3 deficit. Streamwood got 4 hits in that rally including a 2-run single by Rebecca Daley (3-for-4) and an RBI single from Jessica Daley (2-for-4) that plated two, the second coming after an errant throw.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Storm (5-7, 3-2) had a two-out rally of its own. There was one runner on base when Rachel Ziemba and Alissa Hargett (2-for-2) hit back-to-back singles to load the bases, and Bellack finished with the walk-off single that she said landed just a foot fair.
"I was really happy it stayed fair because I didn't want to go extra innings," said Bellack, who finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. "The bases were loaded, two outs, I just wanted to end it."
That was the lone run surrendered by Sabres' losing pitcher Rebecca Daley, who allowed 4 hits and walked 2 in relief of her sister Jessica Daley who went 3⅓ innings.
Jessica Daley got the Sabres' offense jump started in the top of the third with a 3-run double to open the game's scoring. In the circle it was a mixed bag for her as she struck out 7 but allowed 7 hits and 5 walks.
The Storm rallied back with a 4-run bottom of the third and 3-run fourth to take the 7-3 lead. Amber Derr had a 2-run double and Hannah Gordon an RBI single during South Elgin's third inning rally and Bailey McClure, who doubled in the effort, had an RBI in the fourth.
"They tend not to give up at the plate," Sabres' coach Kelly Wasilewski said. "I'm happy with the way they came back to tie it in the sixth, but we dug ourselves a hole. We had too many errors, gave up too many walks, and that hole was too big for us to dig out of."
"It really could have gone either way," said Storm coach Stephanie Katzenberger. "Streamwood got some runners on and put some pressure on us, but the bottom of the seventh was what I really liked from my team. One after the other, they got on base and kept their composure to win this game."