Waubonsie tops Elgin for 1st win
Certainly it was a gutsy move.
Tied with Upstate Eight Conference foe Elgin, two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and the potential tying run on second base, Waubonsie Valley softball coach Kris Kalivas let Becky Randall bunt.
"Sometimes I leave it in their hands as far as what they're confident doing at the plate. She asked if she could do that and I gave her the green light," Kalivas said.
Randall reached on an error that allowed Tori Spears to score. Lisa Corrigan followed with a towering double to left, scoring Randall for Waubonsie Valley's first victory of the season, 6-5 on Saturday in Aurora.
If Randall made it work, Corrigan figured, she'd better.
"It made me feel like we got that person on, so I've got to finish it off, finish the job," said Corrigan, who had been 1-for-3 in prior at-bats against Elgin pitcher Kelly Patchett.
Spears, 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored and another driven in, got the 2-out party started by lifting a double just inside the left-field foul line.
"I was watching, not the best thing to do, but very excited after I saw that," she said. "Lisa's hit was awesome, though. That was key."
Waubonsie Valley's (1-4, 1-1) drive to come back from a 4-0 deficit was the big key.
Elgin (1-10, 0-2) scored twice in the first inning and twice in the third off Warriors starting pitcher Lauren Thresh, who struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings before Lindsey Jozefowicz (1-3) came on.
Maroons leadoff hitter Brandi Hernandez and No. 3 hitter Hannah Perryman scored before Thresh settled down, with Jenna Jaynes notching a pair of RBI singles.
What's more, the Maroons recorded an eye-popping 2-6-2 double play in the second, catcher Caris Alan gunning down a runner attempting to steal second, shortstop Hernandez throwing another out at the plate.
Waubonsie Valley caught up with a 2-run third and made it a 4-4 game in the sixth when Becky Horton collected her second hit and came around on an error.
It seemed Elgin would overcome, going up 5-4 in the top of the seventh. With one out Mari Aguilera singled. After Kalivas switched pitchers Hernandez bunted Aguilera to third and Aguilera scored on Alan's infield hit.
"I told the kids we played well enough to win," Elgin coach Peg Corcoran said. "We turned some nice double plays, and it's always the little things. And it was the little things that came back and beat us today. An easy play, we don't cover it, and the result is a loss. Losses aren't easy to take, and this one's especially hard."