Softball: South Elgin clinches share of UEC Valley title
Sam Dietz, Alivia Doyle, Daisy Fuentes and Julianna Battaglia celebrated senior day Wednesday at South Elgin, then went out and made a little school history.
With a 17-2 win over East Aurora, the Storm clinched a share of the Upstate Eight Valley title.
South Elgin (15-11, 12-4) can win the championship outright by beating Glenbard East on Thursday; the Storm lead 1-0 in the bottom of the first in the suspended game. Bartlett is second in the UEC Valley at 12-5.
Geneva Pollman, who had a pair of triples and 4 RBI against the Tomcats, wants the title outright.
"It would definitely be a big feather in our cap," Pollman said.
Wednesday's win capped an undefeated home season.
"It's an emotional day," Battaglia said. "I'm proud to be part of this team and part of South Elgin softball. We all just worked together and no one plays for themselves. That's what makes the difference."
Storm coach Brad Reynard said Battaglia's leadership has been one of the keys to the team's success.
"Julianna has been our go-to since September," Reynard said. "Since we came to school she's been running our conditioning. One of the best leaders I've had. Her hard work and her love of the game is awesome."
Battaglia said she had confidence this South Elgin team could be the one to break through.
"We just continue to raise the bar," Battaglia said. "Coming into the season we were a little rusty, people are new, we are a young team. Everyone is stepping up and doing their job."
Another key for South Elgin was its great start to conference play when the Storm won three straight over St. Charles East, St. Charles North and Geneva.
"That really got our momentum going and helped the team believe and see first hand what we are capable of and that we can make a good run," Battaglia said.
On Wednesday, the Storm capitalized on four walks in the first inning which eventually set up the only hit in the inning, Pollman's RBI triple for a 5-1 lead.
Pollman came up with the bases loaded in the second inning and delivered another triple to score 3 more runs as South Elgin built a 14-2 lead after 2 innings.
"I have been having a problem seeing the ball in so I had to slow myself down," Pollman said.
Casey Brennan led the Storm going 3-for-3 with 2 RBI and 3 runs. Sami Koss earned the win, striking out 6 before giving way to Allyssa Kendall.
Now the Storm hope they have one more UEC win in them Thursday.
"Even the (South Elgin) teams that won 20 games here didn't win conference," Reynard said. "That's what I keep telling these kids."
Vivian Bahena had 2 of East Aurora's 3 hits. She doubled and scored in the first inning and had an RBI single in the second.