Streamwood knocks off Elgin

In softball, one inning can often make a big difference in the outcome of a game.

For Streamwood, that inning was the top of the third Friday in its Upstate Eight tilt with U-46 rival Elgin.

The Sabres tallied 5 times in that frame, thanks to 2 hits and 4 Elgin errors, giving starting pitcher Jessica Daley more than enough run support as Streamwood prevailed 7-1.

Daley gave up just 3 hits and struck out 10 to help her team improve to 8-18 overall and 5-13 in the Upstate Eight.

Elgin, which fell to 3-25 overall and 2-15 in conference, managed its only run in the fifth - and its first in 24 innings - when Emily Souter scooted home on a wild pitch.

"I think that they just went up there and had a different approach," Streamwood coach Kelly Wasilewski said of her hitters in the critical third inning. "They had a different look. They went up there confident. They hit the ball hard, forced the other team to make some errors, and we scored the runs we needed to."

The inning started innocently enough, with Elgin starting hurler Jessica Rago issuing Andrea Rodriguez a walk. She then gave up a single to left field by Emily Unthank.

Then things started to unravel for the Maroons. A pair of throwing errors put Rebecca Daley and Natalie Filippo on, and plated Rodriguez and Unthank. Jessica Daley then singled to drive in her sister and Filippo, and advanced to second on a misplayed ball in the outfield. Becky Roncone popped out to the catcher, but not before Daley moved to third on a wild pitch. After Evelyn Vega struck out, Melissa Hart reached on yet another miscue, scoring Daley. The inning finally, and mercifully, ended for Elgin when Cayla Hawkins popped out to shortstop Jemiyah Stewart.

"We talked, the keys before the game were not to let them take extra bases and no errors," lamented Elgin coach Nick Bumbales. "We had three or four errors, and they took an extra base or two, and that really set us back."

To Rago's credit, she bounced back strongly after the third inning, retiring the last 9 Streamwood hitters in a row, including striking out the side in the bottom of the sixth.

Nevertheless, the damage had been done.

"I had to make a lot of adjustments," said Rago, who gave up just 5 hits and struck out 8. "Once I see a hitter, I can usually figure out where I should pitch the ball. Sometimes I miss it, sometimes I really get it. Sometimes I'm able to hit my spots the way I'm supposed to."

"She's pitched really well," Bumbales said of Rago. "She's hitting her spots. She's gained some strength as the season has gone on. At the beginning of the season we were looking to pitch her every other game, until she gained some strength, and now we can pitch her two games no problem."

Across the diamond, Wasilewski was pleased with how well Jessica Daley pitched, particularly in a rivalry game nearing the end of the regular season.

"She did a nice job," Wasilewski said. "Her big thing we're trying to work on is getting ahead in the count. She struggled with that early, she's been getting a lot better with that. So once she's getting ahead, she's able to throw a little bit more into it."

"My changeup was working really well, and I think my high screwball threw them off balance a lot," said Daley, who retired 10 of 11 hitters in the early innings and 7 of the last 8 to close the game out.

"It's always a good game against Elgin, and I think our team came out and really played well today," said Filippo, who crushed a triple in the first inning and was driven in by the ensuing hitter, Jessica Daley, who went 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI.

Souter paced Elgin offensively by going 1-for-2 with a single and a run scored. Rago and Jessica Lombardo added singles for the Maroons.