Geneva 3, Conant 2

Danielle Caprile isn't exactly known for being the player who knocks down the game-winning hit.

The junior center fielder on the Geneva softball team admitted she's hasn't had that much luck when it comes to that sort of thing.

That changed on Monday, however, when her single to left field with one out drove in the winning run in the Vikings' 3-2 win in 8 innings over No. 20 seed Conant in the opening round of the Class 4A Geneva regional.

"I was really nervous going up to bat, and I knew I had to get something," Caprile said. "It felt really good afterward … it feels good to do something for the team."

"We knew it was going to be a close, tight game," Conant coach Cathy Smith added. "That was a well-placed hit (from Caprile). It was a good shot."

The No. 13 seed Vikings (14-14) will play No. 5 seed St. Charles North at Geneva at 4:30 p.m. today.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, No. 9 batter Jordyn Searcy led off with the lone walk of the game from Conant pitcher Kailee Pasbrig. Searcy was pushed to second on a Nikki Davis sacrifice bunt. The next batter, Caprile, then produced the hit that ended the game.

"We executed well in terms of getting every bunt single ending up in play," Geneva coach Greg Dierks said.

Pasbrig pitched a perfect game through the first three innings until Geneva broke through in the fourth after Davis led the inning off with a single, reached third on a Conant error and scored on a Melissa Barber RBI bunt.

Conant answered with a pair of runs in the sixth. Vicki McGuire reached on a Geneva error. Her pinch runner, Lauren Ambrose, got to second on Lauren Erkman's single. Both advanced to the next base on a sacrifice bunt from Christina Shelfo, as Ambrose scored soon after on a wild pitch. Erkman eventually reached home on the Vikings' second error of the inning.

"Really, it was one inning we got tight defensively," Dierks said. "I thought we bounced back well the next inning."

Davis tied the game for the Vikings after she led off with a double and scored on a Conant error in the sixth.

A pair of freshman pitchers took the mound for each team. Pasbrig finished her first year 7-12, struck out nine and allowed just 4 hits.

Winning pitcher Kelly McCaffrey improved to 11-7 after giving up 4 hits and fanning five.

"She was solid all day," Dierks said of his freshman hurler. "She's a pretty calm kid. She doesn't get as rattled as some other kids would in certain situations. She pitched a nice game. She's been very reliable all year."

What hasn't been reliable all year is the weather. Geneva and St. Charles North was scheduled -- and rescheduled -- to play each other in the regular season, but the weather prevented that from happening.

"(St. Charles North) is a very good team," Dierks said. "They will put a lot of pressure on us defensively. They'll put the ball in play, they have some speed … we need to be really sharp, especially in the infield."

Conant ended its season 7-21 and graduates just 4 seniors.

"(This season was) a learning experience," Smith said. "We learned how to come from behind, we learned how to play together. They truly are the nicest group of kids ever. We are looking forward to next year. We are hoping to do something with where we came from at the end (of the season)."