ECC dumps Kankakee in Region IV opener
One down, two to go for the Elgin Community College baseball team.
The Spartans defeated Kankakee, a team they had lost to twice during the regular season. 10-2 in the Region IV opener in Moline Thursday and now stand just 2 wins from their fifth straight trip to the NJCAA World Series in Millington, Tenn.
ECC (29-14) combined for 14 hits end the game in the seventh inning on the slaughter rule.
Bryan Mason led the Spartans going 3-for-4 with a home run. Austin Licon hit a 3-run home run while Greg Stolzenburg also added a home run for ECC. Trevor Rutkowski, Josh Axelsen and Ben Vincent all went 2-for-4 to help add to the victory.
Andrew Burkett picked up his eighth win of the season pitching all 7 innings on the mound with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk.
"We played great baseball and we had good pitching from Burkett. We were ready and the defense came out and was phenomenal," ECC coach Bill Angelo said.
The Spartans play Carl Sandburg today.
Softball
Jacobs 11, Dundee-Crown 0: The Golden Eagles ended conference play by setting a new school record with wins in a season. Jacobs is now 27-3 overall and finished the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division season 15-0. Senior Becky Wilson (11-2) was in the circle tossing a 1-hit shutout and fanning 5 batters in 5 innings of play. Lauren Arceneaux led Jacobs at the plate going 3-for-3 with a home run. Meghan Hough also went 2-for-2 with a double to help lead the Golden Eagles to victory.
SCE sweeps Elgin: The Maroons fell to St. Charles East 2-0 and 6-3 in two 5-inning games. In Game 1 Kelly Patchett pitched all 5 innings striking out 4 with no walks. Jenn Repp, Caris Alan and Patchett each had a hit for Elgin. In Game 2 Alyssa Higdon was in the circle with a strikeout and 3 walks in 5 innings of action. Josephine Alborn led the Maroons with 2 hits while Brandi Hernandez, Alex Blanchette and Jenna Jaynes each contributed with a hit.
Burlington Central 1, Sandwich 0: The Rockets (26-1) battled Sandwich in a nonconference matchup and won scoring the only run of the game in the first inning. Mackenzie Scott (13-1) struck out 11 batters in the circle pitching all 7 innings allowing only 3 hits with 2 walks. On offense Burlington Central was led by Brooke Porto (2-for-3), Kayla Oranger (1-for-3) and Jordan Maisto (1-for-2).
Lake Park 7, South Elgin 6: The South Elgin Storm fell to Lake Park after an extremely close play at the plate in the bottom of the seventh innings was made. Katelyn Stonecipher led SE at the plate going 2-for-4, while teammate Kimberly Pierce was 2-for-3. Caitlin Stredde and Lauren Vitiello each doubled for the Storm (19-10, 10-9). Rebecca French suffered the loss in the circle pitching 6½ innings with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks.
McHenry 9, Crystal Lake South 2: The Gators fell in the Fox Valley (Valley) as McHenry's Chelsea Mayer snagged the win in the circle and was 3-for-4 at the plate hitting 2 home runs with 4 RBI. Crystal Lake South's (15-12, 7-8) Jessica Gable (8-11) suffered the loss pitching all 7 innings with only 1 walk striking out 5 batters. Emily Mahoney led CLS going 2-for-2 with a RBI. Tori Maule added the only other hit for the Gators.