Softball: Cuchran homer sends Montini past St. Francis

One changeup, a little off target, changed up the way Saturday's Class 3A sectional softball championship game played out.

Trailing 1-0 in the sixth inning at St. Francis, defending state champion Montini was being handcuffed by Spartans junior Shelby Winkelman, who was using a nasty combination of hard fastballs and off-speed trickery to blank the Broncos two outs into the sixth.

But Montini slugger Nikki Cuchran tied the game at 1-1 with one swing of the bat - a deep blast over the wall in right field on a changeup that she had anticipated. When the improbable two-out rally extended to tack on two more runs, the Broncos were on their way to a thrilling 3-2 win that sends them off to Monday's supersectional against Nazareth at Bandits Stadium in Rosemont.

"I was looking for that pitch. I was looking for a changeup because she was consistently throwing that the whole game," said Cuchran, who has 11 home runs and 65 RBI. "We were down a run, too. It was high intensity. I knew I needed to pick it up. And have my team's back."

Montini (27-7) was not satisfied with just drawing even, however. Naomi Alonzo followed with a walk and reached third after Bri Clifton lined a single. The lead run then scored on a wild pitch and, after a walk to Serena Almodovar, Lauren Latoria singled home the third run of the inning, all with two outs.

"It's all about mental toughness, as Coach (Mike Bukovsky) says. You have to stay tough," said Clifton, who went the distance in the circle to earn her 19th win this spring. "Two outs doesn't really mean anything, and those insurance runs felt really nice."

Every run was needed as the Spartans closed the gap to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth when Carlee Clark added to her single-season school record with a blast to left field, for her 14th home run in 2017. It capped a 10-pitch at-bat in which the sophomore slugger had hit deep foul balls to left and right before smacking one fair.

But Clifton retired the next six batters to preserve the win and finished with 10 strikeouts along the way.

"It's a little tough," said Clark, whose 33-win team was looking to capture the school's first sectional title since 2005. "We've had a great season and I think we'll be able to come back next year real strong. We're not losing anyone so I'm ready for next year. I'm so ready."

St. Francis was sharp in the field, with outfielders Becca Imbrogno and Kelly Langton each robbing the Broncos with diving catches, while shortstop Josie Smith and second baseman Bridget Rath made stellar plays on several hard-hit liners.

"We knew they were going to be a great team," Bukovsky said. "They were having a great year, but our girls, we talked about it … in five years this will be our third trip to a super (sectional). We're pretty excited about that. We're just who we are. We're going to show up and go out and play."

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Caroline Caesar's home run to right gave the home team a 1-0 lead. With the way Winkelman (19-5) pitched into the sixth, it looked for a moment like the game might just end 1-0.

"It was a tough one," Spartans coach Ralph Remus said. "It was a great game. You win tough ones, you lose tough ones. So you've got to live with it. It was a clean game both ways so it was nothing to be ashamed of certainly.

"The changeup that was buried into right field it was not the spot it was supposed to be, but that happens. That's part of the game. It was a good game both ways. Nothing to hang your head about."