Elk Grove tops West Chicago in sectional final
Ken Grams wasn't aware of the exact numbers, but of this he was certain.
"We've done an outstanding job against a terrific pitcher with two strikes on us," Elk Grove's softball coach related to his assistant, Dick Trent.
Grams' Grenadiers indeed pounded out 14 hits - 7 of them coming with two strikes - off DePaul recruit Mary Connolly, holding off West Chicago 4-3 to win the Class 4A St. Charles North sectional on Monday.
Elk Grove's sectional championship is its third under Grams, who won his 700th game earlier this season, but first since 2002. It was especially gratifying after the Grenadiers' season was cut short in regionals in 2008 and 2009.
Elk Grove (35-4) plays Cary-Grove (32-6) Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Judson University supersectional in Elgin, hoping to advance to state for the first time since 1982.
"It really does feel good," Grenadiers junior second baseman Jessica Balzano said. "We're all playing as a team and we all want to make it to state."
West Chicago (27-10), seeking its first-ever sectional championship, went down swinging. Connolly hit a booming homer to straight center with one out in the seventh to cut a 4-2 Elk Grove lead to a single run.
Rachel Johnson, who went 3-for-3 and reached base four times, followed with a single. But Elk Grove pitcher Dani Goranson came back to retire the next two batters to end it.
"I'm not disappointed at all," West Chicago coach Emily Johnson said, "and if the girls are disappointed they shouldn't be. If you're going to go down, you want to go down fighting and we did."
Goranson, who came on in relief of Stephanie Maday with two out in the fourth, earlier wiggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fifth with back-to-back strikeouts to preserve a 3-2 lead.
"She's a strikeout pitcher," Grams said, "and those are the kind of outs you need in those situations."
A Johnson RBI single in the first scored Kaity Olson to give West Chicago an early 1-0 lead, but Elk Grove came back with 2 runs in the second to go ahead 2-1.
In the fourth inning Amanda Gattone and Balzano both singled with two strikes, and Goranson delivered a two-out, two-strike hit to score Gattone and make it 3-1. Six straight Elk Grove hits came with two strikes.
"With two strikes against a good pitcher we usually do a flare - we just choke up on the bat and try to put the ball in play," Goranson said. "Just try to make contact and that's all we were trying to do today."
The Grenadiers strung together 4 straight singles, 2 of them with two strikes, in the fifth, Gattone singling in a run to make it 4-2.
Elk Grove struck out just 2 times against Connolly, who came in with well over 200 punchouts on the year.
"They're the No. 1 seed for a reason," Johnson said. "They had 14 hits. You should definitely win a ballgame if you can get 14 hits. Throughout the lineup they have strong hitters. They knew with Mary, if the bat hits the ball it's going to go because of her speed."
West Chicago, which stranded 10 runners, twice left the bases loaded. In the third inning two errors and an intentional walk to Connolly juiced the bases, but Maday speared a Jen Konchar hard-hit comebacker to end the threat.