Storm, Gators swim into uncharted waters
Uncharted waters await the softball teams from South Elgin and Crystal Lake South this morning when they face off for the Class 4A Machesney Park Harlem sectional championship.
This is the first venture to a sectional championship game for both teams and there could be some understandable jitters when the first pitch is thrown at 10 a.m. at the Harlem Community Center on Forest Hills Road.
"It's exciting," said CLS coach Scott Busam. "You've got two schools that have never played in this particular game before. It's (South Elgin's) first senior class and our seniors know they're in a position no other South team has ever been in. Both of these teams want to leave their mark at their school."
They've done just that in the postseason so far. South Elgin (23-10) won the Streamwood regional, blanking Elgin 4-0 and DeKalb 9-0, and then outlasted Rockford Boylan 6-3 in Wednesday's first sectional semifinal. South won the Jacobs regional, downing Cary-Grove 4-3 and Prairie Ridge 2-0. The Gators (17-13) then knocked off Woodstock 2-0 in Thursday's sectional semifinal.
Offensively, South will be challenged with shutting down a Storm team that hits .316 and has averaged just under 6 runs per game. South Elgin is led by junior first baseman Lauren Vitiello (.545, 7 HRs, 41 RBI), junior center fielder Kim Pierce (.495, 9 HRs, 47 RBI), freshman right fielder Katelyn Stonecipher (.344, 10 RBI) and sophomore left fielder Caitlin Stredde (.327, 21 RBI).
"They've got a few really nice hitters in that lineup and they've got a nice pitcher," said Busam, referring to South Elgin senior Rebecca French. "They've got some speed and we're prepared for anything."
Offensively, the Gators hit just .268 as a team but with the way senior Jessica Gable has pitched in the postseason, South hasn't needed a lot of offense. Junior Emily Mahoney (.315) and Vicki Pyan (.281, 15 RBI) lead the Gators offensively. Pyan's 2-run single against Woodstock proved to the hit that put the Gators into today's game.
"I was pretty impressed with how they play," said South Elgin coach Jason Schaal of the Gators. "We'll have to put some pressure on them and see how they react. Offensively they did the little things they needed to do to push a couple runs across."
Gable (10-11, 1.64 ERA, 122 strikeouts) will need another strong outing to hold down the Storm's high-powered offense.
"We're going to have to get to her," said Schaal. "She's a good pitcher."
South Elgin counters with French, the right-hander who hasn't allowed an earned run in the postseason. She is now 13-5 on the season with a 2.13 ERA and 130 strikeouts.
South emphasized hitting in preparation for Woodstock and flamethrower Taylor Schulty by turning its pitching machine up to 70 mph. While French doesn't throw as hard as Schulty, she does have a good variety of pitches.
"We've tried to really emphasize good hard practices these last two weeks and that the past doesn't mean anything now. Now is the chance to prove something," said Busam, whose team struggled at times during the season and has been without Division I prospect Kaitlin Hardie (SS, ACL from basketball) and her sister and catcher Megan, who was hitting .485 when she tore an ACL 11 games into the season.
Schaal says his team is excited to be in the position its in and it's time to play ball.
"There's no pressure on us at all. Zero," he said. "It's something new for both teams and both schools so let's go out and have some fun and play a good game."
The winner of today's game advances to the Elite Eight and Monday's Elgin supersectional at Northern Illinois University's Mary M. Bell Field, where it will face the winner of the Barrington sectional final between defending state runner-up Barrington and upstart Mundelein Carmel, a No. 12 seed.