Softball: Jackson's walk-off lifts Schaumburg past Elk Grove
One day earlier, Schaumburg veteran leadoff batter Kaiden Jackson went 5-for-6 at the plate against Wheeling.
So guess who stepped into the batter's box on Wednesday in the bottom of the seventh inning, with a chance to win the game against defending Mid-Suburban League East softball champion Elk Grove?
The Saxons were trailing by 1 run with one out and the bases were loaded.
That's when Jackson slapped a perfectly-placed grounder that rolled all the way between the left and center fielders to score Natalie Napier and Jayme Kissamis with the winning runs in the host Saxons' dramatic 9-8 Mid-Suburban League triumph.
"I knew I had to hit a gapper," said center fielder Jackson, who went 3-for-5. "I was trying to extend to the shortstop (area), I was just focused on getting my teammate home in some way."
Jackson's first walk-off hit in a four-year varsity career capped quite a day for her, along with teammates Michelle Birkholz and Michaela Encarnacion.
They enjoyed a college signing ceremony earlier in the day. Jackson and starting pitcher Birkholz committed to Wisconsin-Whitewater while left fielder Michaela Encarnacion did the same to Ripon College.
"Kaiden has been hitting a ton," said Schaumburg coach Ellen Abreu, whose team improved to 2-4 and 2-0 in the MSL West. "We worked a lot with her last year on recognizing situations - when to bunt, when to slap and when to hit. Everything she did today is all her. It's a lot of placement stuff. She's seeing the ball really well."
The Saxons have seen their offense clicking all season, having scored 9, 10, 21 11 and 8 runs in their last five games.
"We've got to clean up some stuff on defense and give up fewer walks," Abreu said. "If we can do that and keep up the hitting that we've been doing, great things will happen."
Two Saxons happened to achieve varsity firsts on Wednesday.
Senior Stephanie Schroeder pitched the final three innings to earn her first win. No. 8 hitter Talia Torosian, a freshman, belted her first homer, a 2-run blast over the center-field fence with one out in the fourth inning.
Schaumburg jumped ahead 2-0 in the third inning when Alex Cook (3-for-4) and Birkholz (2-for-4) hit back-to-back two-out doubles and Cate Poplar singled home Birkholz.
Elk Grove answered with 6 runs in the top of the fourth. Haley Itzenthaler (2-for-3) belted a 2-run double down the left field line and Keely Cronin drew a bases-loaded walk. Amy Pietruszynski reached on an error which brought home 2 runs. Another run came home on a wild pitch.
The Saxons got to within 6-4 on Torosian's homer before EG went back ahead 8-4 in the top of the sixth on an RBI groundout by Itzenthaler and a single to center by pitcher Kylie Thomsen that brought home Itzenthaler.
Schaumburg added 2 runs in the sixth on Cook's 2-run one-out single to right that made it 8-6.
Cronin and Leilani Rivera had singles in the top of the seventh for EG, but clutch defense by Schaumburg prevented a run from scoring and set up the Saxons's big 3-run seventh inning.
It started with consecutive hits by Encarnacion, Natalie Napier and Brittney Butt (RBI) before Jackson eventually delivered the game winner.
"It was like a basketball game where the last team with the ball was going to win," said Elk Grove coach Ken Grams. "Softball is a game of mistakes and we made a lot today. We've got to clean that up."