Dunne gets it done, and Cary-Grove is off to super

Taylor Dunne couldn't have had a dream that was any better than the reality she and the Cary-Grove softball team experienced a little after 11:30 Saturday morning.

Locked in an intense 2-2 tie with Fox Valley Conference rival Jacobs, Dunne lived what most players only get to dream about when she launched a 3-run walk off home run over the left field fence with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Trojans a scintillating 5-2 win over the Golden Eagles in the championship game of the Class 4A Huntley sectional.

"There's no better way to do it," smiled Dunne, still wiping away her tears of joy. "We believed in ourselves and we got it done. We just said 'Hit some, get some.' "

The win vaults Cary-Grove (32-6) into the Judson University supersectional at 7 p.m. Tuesday against the winner of the St. Charles North sectional, either Elk Grove or West Chicago. Those two will meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday after their game Saturday was rained out.

Cary-Grove has now won 17 straight and 22 of its last 23 games. The sectional title is the first in program history.

"This is huge," said elated 17th-year Cary-Grove coach Tammy Olson. "These guys have done a great job all year. They're an amazing group of girls and the parental support is amazing. I couldn't ask for a better group to coach. You need to seize the moment when it's here and they have."

Cary-Grove jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning when, with one out, Alexis Haley and Abbe Wienckowski each singled off Jacobs junior Marissa Lombardo (15-6). They moved up a base on Emma Gaulke's groundout and then scored when freshman pitcher Lindsay Efflandt lined a single to center field.

From that point, Lombardo didn't allow the Trojans another hit until the sixth inning, but Efflandt was equally as tough, giving up nothing until the Golden Eagles (22-12-1) got a break in the top of the fifth.

With one out, a bad throw pulled Wienckowski off first on Nicky Chapa's ground ball. Senior Brooke Frederiksen sacrificed Chapa to second and she scored on Ashley Morales' single to right to make it 2-1.

The Eagles got a runner to third in the sixth but Efflandt struck out Lombardo on a high riseball to end the threat. Cary-Grove then loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning but Lombardo got Dunne to pop out to Jenna Teson at short and then she struck out pinch-hitter Sara Markelonis to leave the runners stranded.

Jacobs then took advantage of a rare Cary-Grove mistake to tie the game in the top of the seventh. Chapa led off with a single and Frederiksen again moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt. After Morales lined out hard to left field, Amber Livingston hit a dribbler between the pitchers circle and first base. Efflandt and Wienckowski collided going for the ball, Livingston beat the throw to first and Chapa alertly came home, using a perfect hook slide to barely beat the tag by Cary-Grove catcher Sarah Leudo.

"We made some mistakes and that put some tension on us," said Olson. "Jacobs did a nice job of capitalizing. I just said we have to keep going, that every at-bat you have a chance."

The Trojans used that chance after Efflandt (28-3) pitched out of a mini-jam in the top of the eighth. Sara Jacobson led off being hit by a pitch and was forced at second on Kara Arceneaux's fielder's choice grounder. Kelsey Peterson then sacrificed Arceneaux to second but Lombardo flew out to medium-deep center field to again end Jacobs' threat.

"We had a couple chances and I feel we executed, we just didn't get the timely hits," said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. "(Cary-Grove) played a great game and defensively they made some great plays. They had a good game plan and they executed it."

Two of those plays came in the second inning when Dunne in left field and Eleni Polites in right each made diving catches. Efflandt also made two nice plays of hard-hit balls up the middle. She struck out only two but had command of her spots all day.

"I don't know how to explain it," Efflandt said of the win. "Everyone kept me going and everyone picks each other up on this team. It's surreal right now. We just want to keep it going."

The Trojans were able to do so when Dunne's game-winner sailed over the left field fence. It was her fifth home run of the season.

"Do your job," said Dunne when asked her mindset going to the plate with the game on the line. "Just get it done. It's your job; get it done."

Bauer was quick to give Dunne her due credit.

"Taylor put a good swing on the ball and that was it," he said. "We were trying to eat away at the corners and (Lombardo) wasn't getting the calls on some of them but she pitched a heck of a game. She's what got us here. It's bittersweet to end this way but we're looking forward to the future."

As is Cary-Grove - the immediate future.

"Our hard work is paying off," Dunne said. "It's really awesome to know we're one game from state. It's what we've dreamed about since the preseason."

And now that dream is one win from reality.