Lakes turns the table against Antioch at home

After losing to Antioch 10-0 last month - a "quick game," losing pitcher Ally Perdue described - Lakes' softball team had the Sequoits right where the Eagles wanted them.

At home.

For Antioch, Tuesday's North Suburban Conference Prairie Division finale was a long game.

Fully aware that a win would knock its District 117 rival out of the NSC championship game, Lakes played spoiler. The Eagles took advantage of 8 errors, while committing none themselves, and cruised to a 9-4 win.

Antioch hasn't won at Lakes in the last four years.

"I thought we were pretty loose," Sequoits coach Anthony Rocco said. "I just think one thing led to another and some things compounded. I think one thing that did frustrate us was we hit the ball hard and (Lakes) was making plays. And we didn't."

And what a difference three weeks made. With two on and two out in the bottom of the sixth, Lakes (19-11, 8-4) was a hit away from winning by the 10-run rule.

"We redeemed ourselves," said Perdue, who earned the complete-game win and aided her own cause by going 2-for-4 with an RBI double. "We took a tough one (Monday) too (9-2 loss to Wauconda). Today we came out and were ready to go."

With Antioch (23-8, 10-2) settling for second place in the NSC Prairie, Wauconda (23-10, 11-1) will play Warren on Thursday in Gurnee for the conference championship. Based on run differential in the teams' two NSC Prairie games against each other, Antioch owed the tiebreaker with Wauconda had they finished in a first-place tie.

"We never play well at Lakes," said Antioch senior catcher Jessica Tyrell, who was 2-for-3 with 2 doubles. "It's really hard to come here and lose again, especially when we had a chance to play Warren on Thursday."

Lakes was aggressive on the bases all game long, starting in the first inning when freshman Molly Dietz raced from first to third on Cassidy Schaar's single into right field and scored on an errant throw. Schaar scored easily on Ashley Horner's sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

Up 3-1 in the fourth, Lakes rallied after one out. Rachel Becker reached on an error and stole second. She sped around third and when another throw sailed into foul territory, the freshman scored.

"They ran the bases well today," coach Bill Hamill said of his Eagles. "That's something we work a lot on, making sure we move base to base."

Perdue allowed 11 hits, including four in Antioch's three-run seventh, but her fielding was exceptional in helping keep more Antioch runners off the bases. The 5-foot-11 junior righty assisted on 6 putouts and squeezed a popup.

"She's a big target, and she plays her spot well," Hamill said of Perdue. "That's a luxury we've had over the last 3-4 years. Our pitchers can play good defense."

Schaar came up big defensively at third base, diving to her left to stab Jill Everett's hard smash and throwing to first for the out. Freshman center fielder Georgia Ohren ran down Ashley Stephens' flyball at the fence.

"We hit the ball and they fielded it really well,"Tyrell said. "It wasn't our hitting. It was our errors. That's what got us this game."

Like Tyrell, Taylor Schiltz went 2-for-3 for Antioch. Jill Foote tripled.

Besides Perdue, Becker was also 2-for-4 with a 2-run double. Horner doubled as well. Melanie Grupka and Karlie Rotunno (1-for-3) added RBI for the Eagles. Antioch outhit Lakes 11-7, but the Eagles never flinched defensively.

"We came together (recently)," Perdue said. "We started off a little shaky on defense this year, but right now we're playing as one team. We're beating some good teams."