Softball: Sweet sectional triumph for Guletsky, Vernon Hills
Tatiana Guletsky remembers the car ride to the hospital, knowing the pain wasn't going away anytime soon.
Her softball season had ended when she ripped her right ACL on a slide into second base and, when the game was over, her team's season was history too. Vernon Hills had lost to the host school in the St. Viator regional final last year.
That's why Saturday was what the Cougars senior first baseman called a "dream come true." Just days shy of the anniversary of her knee reconstruction surgery, Guletsky celebrated with her teammates after fifth-seeded Vernon Hills edged No. 7 Prairie Ridge 5-4 in the Class 3A Grayslake Central sectional final.
The win for the Cougars (18-18) earned them a berth in Monday's 4:30 p.m. Kaneland supersectional against Kaneland (25-9) in Maple Park.
"Coming back (after how last season ended) and winning the sectional is unreal," said the lefty-throwing/lefty-hitting Guletsky after going 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. "I'm so proud of the team coming together. We all clicked. We're all on the page, and we're at that high point in our season where we're really kicking it up another gear."
Guletsky included.
Her performance against Prairie Ridge (12-14) hiked her batting average to .750 (9-for-12) in four postseason games with 2 homers and 8 RBI. After returning to basketball to make her season debut in mid-January, she's played the entire softball season without her cumbersome knee brace.
"I tried to be as religious as possible with my rehab," Guletsky said. "I kept telling myself, no matter how much pain I was going through, 'I want to get back for my senior softball season. I want to be in my best shape possible, and I want to come back and play my best.' "
Vernon Hills is playing its most consistent, if not best, softball of the season. The Cougars beat No. 4 seed and host Ridgewood in the regional final, before ousting top-seeded Antioch in Tuesday's sectional semifinal.
"Once we won that regional final, we felt it," Vernon Hills coach Jan Pauly said. "Then we played so well against Antioch. We knew going through our season we could play with good teams. We had an up-and-down season, as a lot of teams do, but we started finishing strong.
"And these kids have lit it up offensively, up and down the lineup."
Guletsky even recorded the final out on Saturday, scooping up a groundball and stepping on the bag, before celebrating with her teammates in the infield.
"The excitement that came through me made me want to throw off my (pitching) mask and my glove, and just dance," said Vernon Hills sophomore starting pitcher Madi Johnson, who danced a little and jumped around a lot after the Cougars captured their first sectional title since 2009 and third overall (2003).
Johnson allowed solo home runs to Emmie Farnam in the first, Madi O'Brien in the fourth and Haley Barnes in the sixth but scattered just 5 hits, in total. She struck out a pair and retired the final four batters she faced.
"It's very nerve-wracking," Johnson said of pitching at Grayslake Central, where flyballs sail over the fence far more frequently than they do at Vernon Hills' spacious field. "This field is insane because it has a lot shorter fences (185 feet to the power alleys). But my coach said oftentimes you're going to have a lot of highs and a lot of lows. When I saw (Prairie Ridge) bomb one over the fence, I took that like, 'OK, I know where not to pitch it now.' I took that moment and just moved on past it. I got on to my next pitch."
Rachel Wright's RBI single with two out in the first inning off Wolves righty Haley Barnes gave Vernon Hills the lead for good at 2-1. The junior third baseman then homered with Guletsky aboard in the third. Mackenzie Mahler made it back-to-back homers, increasing the Cougars' lead to 5-1.
It was Mahler's second homer in as many games at Grayslake Central. For Wright, it was her first home run of the season. She tried not letting Grayslake Central's cozy dimensions alter her hitting approach.
"It changes the game completely," Wright said. "I know that, although the fence is shorter, you can't swing for the fences. We just had a mindset of base hit after base hit and then the home runs come as you go."
That's what happened on her homer, which she belted to center field.
"It was a low fastball and I just had to make contact," Wright said.
Besides Wright and Guletsky, Delaney Bowen also had a pair of hits for the Cougars.
"We're a small school" Wright said. "When we come out like this, it's an amazing thing."