PR wins first regional title at CL South's expense

This was not the ending Crystal Lake South was hoping for, nor was it the ending the Gators expected.

Prairie Ridge scored a pair of runs in the first inning and never looked back, taking a 4-0 victory over the Gators in the championship game of the Class 4A McHenry softball regional. The regional title is the first for the Wolves in softball, who now await either South Elgin or Larkin in next Wednesday's Woodstock sectional semifinal.

The Gators (24-12) struggled to put offense together all afternoon. Prairie Ridge starter Johanna Turner (29-4) allowed just 5 hits and struck out 9 batters. Turner did not allow South to record more than 1 hit in an inning until the sixth.

"We were getting hits, they were just right at them," said South pitcher Emily Mahoney, who went 1-for-3.

Leadoff hitter Liz Adams opened the inning up with South's fourth hit of the game. Samantha Hardie followed with a long shot to center field. While Hardie looked to advance to second, Wolves' center fielder Danielle Samuels gunned the ball down to Lexi Wachman at third to get Adams and kill South's rally.

Turner struck out Kaitlin Hardie and then got Megan Hardie to fly out to Samuels.

"I thought she slid under it," said Crystal Lake South coach Scott Busam, whose team advanced to the Elite Eight last year. "It was a baserunning error. But that didn't cost us the game."

Prairie Ridge was able to build its lead early after Wachman opened the game up with a single and scored on an RBI from Lauren Seegers. Erika Trojan also singled and was driven home by Erin Smith's RBI single. Despite allowing 2 runs and 3 hits in the first inning, Mahoney (17-9) allowed just 1 hit over the next five innings.

"Turner is hot and their batting order is hitting," Busam said. "The No. 1-5 hitters are lethal. You can't mistake pitches to the girls in the bottom of their order. They can put the ball in play."

Wachman extended the lead for the Wolves (31-6) when she notched a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth. Anna Patras drew Mahoney's second walk of the game to put runners at first and second. After a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, Seegers nailed a deep 2-run single scoring both Wachman and Patras.

"As the leadoff hitter, you want her to get on base," Prairie Ridge coach Mike Buck said of Wachman. "She set the tempo for what we wanted to do."