Antioch's right on time against Johnsburg

A Daly dose had become an annual burden for Antioch's softball team.

Having had its season ended by Johnsburg pitcher Amanda Daly the last two years, the Sequoits wanted nothing more than to avoid a "3-peat" in the Class 3A Richmond-Burton regional final.

Defeating Daly had become a mental hurdle.

"Bigger than anyone knew," coach Jeff Tylka said.

"We knocked them out the past two years so it's like a rivalry between us," Daly said.

Antioch claimed bragging rights Saturday, ending Johnsburg's season this time, but it was hardly easy, which wasn't surprising. The Sequoits, top-seeded in the regional, edged the third-seeded Skyhawks 1-0 in 10 innings on a sacrifice fly by unlikely hero Amber Mysliwiec, who didn't enter the game until the fifth inning.

"I was expecting to be a helper and fill in if they needed me," said Mysliwiec, a freshman and sister of Sequoits senior star Ashley Mysliwiec.

The win earned Antioch (31-2), which managed just 2 hits off the Dayton-bound Daly, a berth in Thursday's 4 p.m. sectional semifinal at Marengo against surprising Grayslake Central, which won its own regional by stunning Lakes 1-0.

Johnsburg finished 15-18.

"The mental aspect is so big," Tylka said of his team facing Day, "and she pitched really well today."

Daly (13 strikeouts, 3 walks) took a 1-hitter into the bottom of the 10th, as both she and Sequoits ace Olivia Duehr (15 strikeouts, 4 walks, 3 hits) dominated in the circle.

Daly had a no-hitter until Hannah Vandevoorde singled leading off the fifth.

"Amanda attacked inside the first four innings," Tylka said. "She pounded the inside corner. Olivia did kind of the same thing. Olivia couldn't throw her curveball until the seventh inning, and then we threw a lot of curveballs. The spin was wrong (in the earlier innings)."

Cat Dinklenburg led off the Antioch 10th with a single that hit the first-base bag and caromed into right field. When the right fielder misplayed the ball, Dinklenburg sped to second.

Jessie Liszka then sacrificed Dinklenburg to third, bringing up Amber Mysliwiec, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the fifth after Jen Precht stepped to the plate and was ejected for having a hair tie on her wrist - a "jewelry" violation.

"Our shortstop (Allie Anttila) had earrings in so that was the first (team) warning in the first inning," explained Precht, especially grateful that her senior season is still alive.

Amber Mysliwiec, who went hitless in her first two at-bats, drove a Daly pitch plenty deep enough to right, allowing Dinklenburg to tag and score easily.

Funny thing is, Mysliwiec said, at first, she didn't realize her flyball was about to win the game.

"I thought there were two (outs)," she said. "I was really scared. I felt like all the weight was on my hands. I was nervous. Then when I hit it, I was so happy."

"That just shows that everyone's coming ready to go," Duehr said of Mysliwiec's heroics. "If she's not ready to go, we don't win this game. That's the bottom line."