Softball: Tyler lifts Glenbard East past West Chicago
For four innings of Wednesday's softball contest at Pioneer Park in West Chicago, there were the usual noises, fans cheering, planes overhead, the bat making contact with the ball among others.
However, one sound missing was feet coming in contact with home plate. That changed in the top of the seventh inning
Visiting Glenbard East erupted for 4 runs in its half of the inning to prevail 5-1 in Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division competition.
The Rams (7-15) erupted thanks to winning pitcher Tori Tyler's grand slam, which was the difference in the contest.
The huge inning started with Danielle Huber making good on a single to right. Sam Dooley then reached on an infield hit and Alivia Chuman walked to set the stage for Tyler's shot that went over the fence between left and center fields.
"I knew it was one (a home run). You can feel it. It felt great. I was just glad to hit it for the team," Tyler said.
Tyler threw a complete game, allowing six hits and striking out eight.
"I was throwing my screwball inside and jamming them up real well," the senior said.
Glenbard East has just four games left in the regular season. The postseason begins when the Rams host a Class 4A regional as part of the Fremd sectional. The 14th-seeded hosts take on 17th-seeded Glenbard North at 4:30 p.m. Monday. The winner plays second-seeded Prospect on Tuesday in semifinal competition.
"We have five seniors (Tyler, Dooley, Chuman, Huber and Elisa Versetto) and they're good leaders. They've played on varsity all four years," said Rams coach Dawn Chantos. "Our pitching has been outstanding. It keeps us in games and our bats are lethal when they're on."
Dooley, Glenbard East's leadoff hitter, singled to left to start the game, moved to second on Chuman's sacrifice bunt and to third on Tyler's groundout. She scored on a wild pitch.
West Chicago (10-18) tied the contest in the bottom of the second inning. Emily Murphy connected on a basehit down the right-field line and Maggie Culver, running for Murphy, stole second. She moved to third on Isabella Zentner's infield hit and later scored on a throwing error.
The Wildcats were not without their chances but could not get any more runs across. West Chicago had at least one runner on base during the first six innings and got multiple runners on in the second through fourth innings.
"(Tyler) is a really good pitcher. We had a few mistakes in the seventh. She did a lot of damage. You can't give teams opportunities like that," said West Chicago coach Sean Gimpert.
The Wildcats also start the postseason Monday. They are a 17th seed in the Class 4A Oswego sectional and travel to 16th-seeded Wheaton North for a Plainfield North regional quarterfinal game. The winner advances to semifinal play Tuesday to face the top-seeded regional hosts.
"These last two weeks have been our best play all year. I think we have a chance at some upsets if we play our game and get the opponent to hit to us and we hit into the field," Gimpert said.
Wednesday was senior day at Pioneer Park. Five seniors were honored before the game: Murphy, Zentner, Anna Ficarra, Anastasia Alaniz and Sam Mitchell.