Softball: Practice makes perfect for sectional finalist St. Charles East
St. Charles East's softball team was supposed to play on Wednesday.
But rain postponed the Saints' semifinal at the Class 4A Schaumburg sectional until Thursday.
"We just kept working hard (on Wednesday) and we prepared," said Saints junior catcher Rylee Stout. "We practiced hard and long."
The effort paid off as No. 3-seeded St. Charles East topped No. 2 Conant 5-1 to advance to Saturday's 11 a.m. championship against No. 5 Elk Grove (27-6).
The Saints (32-4) certainly have practice playing Conant (25-6) in the postseason - for the last four years now, to be exact.
St. Charles East defeated Conant four years ago in the regional championship.
The Saints lost to Conant in the sectional semifinal in 2014. Last year, Conant defeated St. Charles East in the regional championship.
"And during the nine years coaching in the program, we've never played them during the regular season," said St. Charles East coach Jarod Gutesha, who watched his team break a 1-1 tie with 2 runs in the fifth and 2 more in the sixth.
The Saints took advantage of errors in all 3 innings they scored off Conant senior ace Sara Neuman, who ended her stellar season at 21-2.
An error on a double steal attempt in the first inning allowed Delaney Devor to score the first run after the junior drew a two-out walk followed by Stout's single to right center.
Conant answered in the bottom of the first without a hit.
The Cougars loaded the bases, thanks to a hit-by-pitch to Lauren Grzelak and walks to Sydney Correa and Morgan Bihun.
Senior Dream Aaron's groundout to short scored Grzelak for the Cougars' run.
Saints senior pitcher Jordan Hall (4 strikeouts) did not give up another run and escaped two serious jams to raise her record to 18-4.
"She pretty much did what she had done for us all season," Gutesha said. "It doesn't matter who we are playing. She just throws her pitches and lets her defense do the work behind her. She gets a lot of groundballs, and they are not hard hit."
The Cougars got three consecutive hits in the third inning but on the final one, right fielder Delaney Devor came up throwing and caught the runner trying to score.
"It was a wonderful play by Delaney," Gutesha said. "And same for Rylee for reaching back and making the great tag."
The Saints gave Hall a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth when Madelyn Candre led off with a single to right center. Hall moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt before a walk to Catherine Crossen.
Both runners on base then scored on an infield error for the 3-1 lead.
Conant threatened in the bottom of the inning when Grzelak led off with a single and Correa singled with one out for two runners on base.
But Hall got an infield fly rule and strikeout to escape.
The Saints rewarded her with 2 more runs in the sixth. They came on an error and bloop single by Hall.
The Saints pitcher then faced six batters in the final two innings, thanks to a game-ending double play when third baseman Megan Daly caught a liner and doubled up the runner at second base.
"Jordan threw real well," Stout said. "She was getting ahead of the batters and painting the corners well. She threw a lot of off-speed, too."
Stout, Candre, Hall and Sarah Kreiner had the 4 hits for the Saints.
"We came out to play," Stout said. "We were full of energy and it was exciting."
Correa led the offense for Mid-Suburban League champion Conant, going 2-for-2 with a walk from the No. 3 spot.
Bihun, Grzelak and Jackie Burchfield (sacrifice bunt) had the hits for the Cougars, who committed 4 errors.
"It was probably the most errors we made all season,"said Conant coach CathyAnn Smith. "And they will hurt you.
"Our pitcher (Neuman who had 3 strikeouts) is strong but we need all the pieces and today we didn't have them.
"We knew we were facing a team with speed and we had to fight against that. The errors hurt us. But we have a lot of younger players eager to learn from it and who want to do something next season."