Carmel swings into action against St. Viator

Carmel Catholic's softball team hit 3 home runs and scored 9 runs in the third inning and went on to out-slug St. Viator 25-12 in the Class 3A DePaul College Prep regional final at North Park University on Saturday.

Amanda Elert and Emma Bartz each homered twice, and Jenny Behan hit a grand slam, as top-seeded Carmel advanced to Tuesday's Grayslake Central sectional semifinals. The Corsairs (29-7) will play Lakes (23-12) at 4:30 p.m.

Behan's homer was her 17th of the season and 57th for Carmel. The James Madison-bound Behan finished 4-for-6 with 6 RBI. Elert was 3-for-4 with 5 RBI.

Carmel and No. 9 St. Viator battled the wind and rain. Carmel led 6-4 after the first inning, as both teams had trouble in the rain, Lions coach John Scotillo said. After a rain delay, the Lions tied the score.

Carmel, which beat St. Viator twice during East Suburban Catholic Conference play, then erupted in the third. The Corsairs added five more runs in the sixth.

Cam VanValkenburg (triple) and Grace Kaiser each had 3 hits for St. Viator. "The 9-run inning obviously hurt us," Scotillo said. "Earlier in the year we would have gotten down on ourselves, but we're very young and have learned to keep fighting. Today we kept scoring runs. Unfortunately, there is no defense to a 3-run homer. We really started to play better the last couple of weeks, so I am already excited for next year."

Carmel also got a home run from Jen Giesey. Dani DeLozier was 3-for-5 with 4 runs scored. Bartz (4 runs scored, 4 RBI) and Karina Falkstrom (2 RBI) each finished with 2 hits.