Urbanus, St. Viator speed to regional triumph
St. Viator coach Dan Twarog says No. 2 Lions hitter Bridget Urbanus can put a lot of pressure on the opponents' defense with her speed.
"Her job is just making contact with the ball and then run like the wind," the coach said.
The junior center fielder (3-for-4 and on base four times) never did that better than Saturday when she belted an inside-the-park homer in the bottom of the first inning.
It proved to be the game-winning RBI in host St. Viator's 11-1 five-inning victory over No. 20 seeded Round Lake in a play-in game to the Class 4A Stevenson regional.
The No. 14-seeded Lions (14-22) will face No. 4 Stevenson (18-12) in today's 4:30 p.m. semifinal.
"When I got to third base, I thought I was going to stop," Urbanus said about her first career homer. "But he (Twarog) waved me to keep going so I went all the way home."
And the Lions kept going, taking a 9-0 lead after three innings and adding the final 2 runs in the bottom of the fifth when junior Amanda Presslak and Abby Dickey crossed the plate.
"When Bridget and Abby Dickey (Nos, 1 and 2 hitters) get on base, it makes it so much easier for the rest of the kids and for us to score runs," Twarog said. "They (Dickey and Urbanus) have been our catalysts."
Winning pitcher Melanie Slawny (6-11) tossed a 3-hitter and also went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Other multiple hitters for the Lions were senior Jessica Etchingham (2-for-3, RBI) and Presslak (2-for-3), while Torey Lenart and Ronnie Mack had doubles.
Gina Oliphant belted a triple for the Panthers (3-22) to lead off the fourth inning. Senior Kelsey Crecchio walked and scored the Panthers' only run in the third inning, coming home on Amanda Horcher's single to center.
"I thought we put ourselves in the right spots to make every play," said Round Lake coach Travin Kozel. "But we just didn't execute."
Twarog hopes his Lions keep executing today in Lincolnshire.
"It's a good group of kids," he said. "If we play our game, we can win. Our goal is to get to Saturday (championship game)."
Hersey 4, Lake Forest 0: Junior Kristy Johnson struck out seven and walked two for the visiting No. 17-seeded Huskies in the play-in game against No. 16 Lake Forest.
Hersey (7-20) will face No. 1 Fremd (27-4) today at 4:30 p.m. in the Class 4A Palatine regional semifinal.
Aubrey Fulton went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a double to lead the Huskies' offense.
Taylor Reeves was 2-for-2 with a walk. Kim Ferraro, Stacey Shmiederer and Aleene Morgenthaler had the other Hersey hits.
"It's one step further than we went last year," said Hersey second-year coach Molly Freeman. "So that's exciting. We are just trying to get better every day."
Conant 4, Willowbrook 0: No. 14-seeded and host Conant won the Class 4A St. Charles East play-in game behind Briana Cavin's no-hitter which included 14 strikeouts and 1 walk against No. 18 Willowbrook.
The freshman right-hander was also 1-for-2 at the plate with a walk and an RBI.
Amanda VanJacobs (2-for-3) and Allie Bauch (3-for-3) were multiple hitters for the Cougars, while Kim Jacobson, Hilary O'Donnell and Paige Ward each had 1 hit.
"We played solid from the beginning," said Cougars coach CathyAnn Smith. "We need to focus one game at a time."
The Cougars travel to No. 3 St. Charles East at 4:30 p.m. today.
York 12, Prospect 2 (5): Host York, the No. 13 seed, advanced to today's regional semifinal game to face Lake Park in the Class 4A Lake Park regional (East Campus) at 5 p.m. The No. 19-seeded Knights finished at 7-24.