Cary-Grove clinches share of FVC Valley title
In 17 years as Cary-Grove's softball coach, Tammy Olson has never won a Fox Valley Conference championship outright.
On Friday, Olson's Trojans will have a chance to do that for their coach.
Freshman Lindsay Efflandt scattered 5 hits and Cary-Grove backed her with timely hitting Wednesday as the Trojans avenged their only Valley Division loss by beating Jacobs 5-2 in Cary.
Cary-Grove (22-6, 11-1), which has won 7 straight and 12 of its last 13, secured at least a share of the Valley title with the win and can close out the undisputed championship with a win over McHenry Friday. Cary-Grove's last FVC title came in 2006 when the Trojans shared with Crystal Lake South. They also shared the league championship in 2000.
"I'm thrilled to death," said Olson, who won her 291st career game. "They've jelled and come together and it makes you feel great. They feel like they're on top of their game right now."
The Trojans were on Wednesday. They snapped a scoreless tie in the third inning when Colette Roth reach on an error, stole second, went to third on a groundout and then scored on Alexis Haley's single to left field.
Haley, who was 3-for-4, then sparked Cary-Grove's 4-run fifth inning when she tripled home Eleni Polites, who had walked.
"Ever since my freshman year it's always been a battle between us and Jacobs," said Haley. "This was a game that was important for us. The last game (against Jacobs, a 3-0 loss) we didn't come out hard. We practiced hard (Tuesday) and came out intense and ready today. It feels good to be on top this year."
Abbe Wienckowski drove in a run for the Trojans in the fifth inning with a single, another scored on an error and a Taylor Dunne sacrifice brought in another.
Meanwhile, Efflandt was on top of her game in the circle for Cary-Grove, which needs four more wins to tie the school record of 26 set in 2006. The right-hander, now 17-3 on the season, struck out six and walked one.
"It was pretty intense. We really wanted to beat these guys," Efflandt said. "We weren't happy (about losing to Jacobs) so we just came in and got tough. The weather wasn't the greatest but you can't let that bother you."
Jacobs, which was the home team after the game was switched to Cary-Grove due to field conditions, averted the shutout with unearned runs in the sixth and seventh. Junior Jenna Teson (2-for-3) walked and scored in the sixth on Kelsey Peterson's groundout, then drove in Nicky Chapa, who had singled, in the seventh. Infield errors on the Trojans helped runners advance in both innings. The Golden Eagles (15-8, 8-4) had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh but Efflandt got Sara Jacobson to hit into a game-ending fielder's choice.
Marissa Lombardo (10-3) suffered the loss in the circle for Jacobs. She allowed 9 hits, had 2 strikeouts and 2 walks.
"We just didn't have timely hitting," said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. "We had runners in scoring position a few times and just didn't get the job done. For us, it was a win or die situation and we had our opportunities, we just didn't capitalize.
"But hats off to them. They hit the ball and did a great job."