Softball: Conant drops South Elgin for 4th straight regional title

The Conant seniors truly made a grand exit in their final game on their home field in Hoffman Estates.

Especially Cougars catcher Lauren Grzelak, who leaves high school not only with never getting a grade other than A, but with never missing out on a regional championship in softball.

She became the first player in program history to win four straight when the No 2-seeded Cougars carded a 6-2 triumph over No. 7 South Elgin on Saturday in their own Class 4A test.

It was Conant's eighth regional crown in school history and seventh under hall of fame coach CathyAnn Smith, whose team (22-6) advances to the St. Charles East sectional to face No. 5 St. Charles North on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

"It's honestly amazing," said Grzelak, who will most likely study pre-med at Duke University. "I can't even describe how great it feels."

Senior third baseman Morgan Bihun was feeling pretty great as well, leaving her home field tied for the school's record for home runs.

Bihun's 11th homer of the season in the bottom of the sixth capped the scoring in the Cougars' 11-hit attack.

She now has 26 homers, equaling Rachel O'Malley and Dream Aaron.

"Morgan hitting that home run was what we needed to keep our offense going there at the end," Smith said.

"It's exciting," said Bihun, who will play at Wisconsin- Green Bay next season. "Honestly, I can't believe it's my last home game. Now it's on to the sectional. We just need the same mentality and hard work, and we'll be fine."

It was also the final home games for Sam Gadomski, Maddy Meier, Sara-Kate Pasbrig, Ally Lira and Carly Rossdeutcher, who went out perfect with a 3-for-3 day including 2 RBI, a double and a walk.

The only other player in the game with 3 hits was South Elgin freshman first baseman Mckayla Timmons. She was also 3-for-3 and belted her single-season school record 14th homer run of the season

The 2-run shot pulled the Storm to within 3-2 in the top of the fourth inning.

"Even when they scored those runs and it was 3-2, we knew we were going to come back and get some more runs," Bihun said. "Our mentality was more that we could do it, rather than we were going to be defeated."

Sure enough, the Cougars got the 2 runs back in the fifth inning when Rossdeutcher led off with a double. She got to third on wild pitch and stayed there when Grzelak put down a perfect bunt single.

Grzelak stole second and went to third on Meier's RBI single to left that scored Rossdeutcher.

Paige Nallen's sacrifice fly drove home Grzelak to make it 5-2 before Storm sophomore pitcher Geneva Pollman retired the next two batters on liners to right fielder Haley Szubert.

"I thought Geneva did a great job for us, said Storm coach Brad Reynard. "She kept us in the game. We make a play here or there and it could be even closer. Conant is a great team They hit really well."

Besides Rossdeutcher, other multiple hitters for Conant were Bihun (2-for-3, RBI) and Meier (2-for-3, 2 RBI).

Teammates Delaney Szwed, Grzelak, Nallen and Sydney Correa each had 1 hit while leadoff batter Makenna McCarthy was robbed of extra bases in her first at-bat when center fielder Casey Brennan made a leaping grab of sailing line drive.

"Our hitting was on from the start," Bihun said. "And we were very positive the whole game."

"Their (South Elgin) outfield defense is tough so knew we had make things happen with small ball and ground balls," Smith said.

Two of South Elgin's 5 hits were for extra bases, and both came in the fourth inning.

Brennan led off with a double to left center and came home on Timmons' towering home run over the left center field fence.

"McKayla has been great for us all season" said Reynard, whose club finished at 18-15. "And I could not be more proud of my seniors (Szubert, Alissa Hargett, catcher GraceAnne Aldred, Brynn Warrick, Mariah Spivey, Erin Bradford and Brianna Pena). The whole group is great kids and I have been blessed to be part of this.

"We were happy to be in the game. We had a chance and that's all you can ask for. It was 3-2 most of game. We were right there. We just needed to make a play or two. And a lot of these kids are back for next season."

Hargett also had a hit for South Elgin which had 5 off Conant pitchers Jackie Carlucci (first four innings) and Sam Gadomski (last three).

"I was pleased with our pitching combination," Smith said. "And our confidence at the plate. They did a great job."

Now the first Conant team to win four straight regionals will head to the St. Charles East for the sectional.

"These seniors are into it," Smith said. "They've got a goal and are they're just here to play and want to keep it going."