Softball: Kaneland finishes strong, beats Morris
Hailey Roach found herself in a difficult situation Thursday but didn't stop battling.
The Kaneland junior third baseman made outs in her first two at-bats and quickly found herself down 0-2 in her third at-bat in the bottom of the fifth inning.
But with the Knights trailing 3-2 and Donatela Sommesi at third base, Roach worked the count to 3-2 and then got the pitch she wanted, an outside fastball that she lined over the center field fence to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
Kaneland scored two more runs in the sixth for a 6-3, come-from-behind win over Morris in the Northern Illinois Big XII East action.
"When I got up there I just thought I had to do this for my team," Roach said. "I knew I would fight for a pitch and not a walk. You really have to focus on what she's throwing and what pitch she is going to throw next and foul it off if you don't like it and get the one you want."
Kaneland (7-3, 4-0) added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth to make a winner of Emilee Erickson, who pitched the final five innings in relief of Mckenna Ryan.
"She (Roach) battled back," Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler said. "It was a perfect at-bat. She reached back and cut that thing in half. It was a beautiful hit. That was big for her."
Morris (10-8, 2-4) got off to a quick start. Kennedy Dransfeldt led off the game with a double and scored on Rachel Trader's 2-run home run.
Kaneland left fielder Natalie Kraemer raced back to try to catch Trader's blast but didn't see the fence and ran full speed right into it. She stayed on the ground for several minutes as her foot got caught under the fence, and she also suffered a cut to her chin.
Kraemer showed her toughness not just in colliding with the fence but staying in the game. She came up with the Knights' first RBI in the fourth inning, then secured the last out of the game by catching a line drive.
"You certainly don't want kids to get hurt but a kid who is willing to chase a ball like that you've got to love those kids," Kuefler said. "You are willing to run through a fence to catch a ball? You've got to love those kids."
After Morris added a run for a 3-0 lead in the second, Erickson entered and stuck out the side in the third.
Kaneland pulled within 3-2 in the fourth on RBI singles from Kraemer and Kaitlyn Kurzrock against Morris starter Gigi Corban.
Sommesi started Kaneland's rally in the fifth with a 2-out triple, then scored on Roach's home run that Morris coach Jen Bamonte thought should have been a strikeout.
"Our pitcher was shutting them down," Bamonte said. "We weren't getting the calls. That umpire cost us this game if you ask me and I don't normally say that. He was so inconsistent. We clearly had the girl who hit the home run struck out twice on two pitches in a row. It's very frustrating. Then you just know something is going to happen. Give credit where credit is due but against a great team like Kaneland, I can't stand when it comes down to one person."
Lexi Abruzzo made it a 6-3 game with her 2-out, 2-run double in the sixth to score Olivia Ortegel (walk) and Kurzrock (single).
Erickson stranded two runners in the seventh to finish her five scoreless innings.
"Emily just continues to get stronger and stronger and she's able to do that because we are getting her the rest," Kuefler said.