Moore's a hit as Antioch ousts Rams
Antioch's softball team doesn't need more hitters. The Sequoits just need Lauren Moore to hit more and more like Lauren Moore.
Moore was better Thursday and the Sequoits were grateful for it. They rode her hitting and Olivia Duehr's 2-hit, 11-strikeout effort to a 4-0 win over Grayslake Central in semifinal action of the Class 3A Marengo sectional, ending the Rams' Cinderella postseason.
The victory earned Antioch (32-2) a berth in Saturday's 11 a.m. sectional final against Vernon Hills (20-8). The two North Suburban Prairie Division teams split their regular-season series with each winning a one-run game.
"I'm so excited," Moore said. "It should be good."
Moore's good performance against Grayslake Central (11-25) had her excited, and rightfully so.
The junior third baseman went 2-for-3, hitting a sun-aided double that plated a pair to snap a scoreless tie in the fourth and booming a leadoff triple in the sixth. She scored on a single by Hannah Vandevoorde, who also was 2-for-3.
"I finally am breaking through," Moore said. "Lately, I've been kind of struggling up there. I'm over-thinking it. But this game I told myself, 'I'm hacking.' "
That's what she did in the fourth, when Antioch broke through for 3 runs against Rams ace Monika Wedick, who had allowed just a bunt single to Cat Dinklenburg through three innings.
Duehr rifled a one-out triple to center, but she got caught in a rundown when Wedick speared Ashley Mysliwiec's comebacker. Duehr got back safely to third, while Mysliwiec raced to second.
So, instead of Mysliwiec on first or second with two out, or Duehr at third with two out, Antioch had runners on second and third and still one out.
Moore then hit a deep flyball to right that would have easily allowed Duehr to tag and score. Rams right fielder Claire Brennan battled the sun unsuccessfully and the ball landed behind her, scoring both Duehr and Mysliwiec.
"It was directly in the sun," Brennan said.
Moore went to right field again on her triple, crushing a Wedick pitch to the gap.
"She drives the ball the other way better than anyone else on our team," Sequoits coach Jeff Tylka said.
That Moore broke out at the plate wasn't surprising. She bats fifth, but she's been overshadowed this season by Antioch's top four hitters - Samie Seamon, Allie Anttila, Duehr and Mysliwiec, who've hit a combined 24 home runs.
"Physically, one of our best players," Tylka said of Moore. "She's got the arm at third, and her hands, I think she's struck out five times all year. She always puts the ball in play. She's one of our best hitters. It's just that there are four in front of her that are putting up huge numbers."
The freshman Brennan had the only hits off Duehr - a pair of sharp singles to left her first two times up.
"My coach (JV coach Tom Blackwell) said I hit well off machines because I know it's going to be a strike every time, so I have to go up there thinking it's going to be a strike," Brennan said. "If I don't like it, then just stay back and wait for one I like. Which I did."
Grayslake Central won only 9 games during the regular season before posting back-to-back shutouts in the regional against Grayslake North and top-seeded Lakes. The author of those shutouts, Wedick, who'll pitch for the College of Lake County, yielded just 6 hits to Antioch.
"Wedick had an excellent season," Rams coach Abbey Tadelman said. "She finished 11-18 and even though she had those 18 losses, she has moved forward. I'm excited to see her next season."