Crystal Lake S. holds off Dundee-Crown
Leading 9-0 in the second inning, Crystal Lake South appeared on its way to an easy win against Dundee-Crown. The Gators did hold on for the win, but the Chargers made them sweat, getting the tying run to the on-deck circle in the seventh inning before falling, 12-7, in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division softball action Wednesday in Carpentersville.
Liz Adams and Alli Bochat homered on consecutive pitches in the second inning to help South open the big lead.
Lauren Lococo went deep for Dundee-Crown, and also had a single and a double. Melany Love also had 3 hits for the Chargers.
Love also helped the comeback from the pitchers circle. After Adams cranked a 3-run shot to left center against D-C starter Amanda Eissler, Love moved from center field to the circle. Bochat greeted her with another shot but after that Love settled down and held the Gators (13-3, 3-2) to 4 runs (2 earned) the rest of the way.
“She’s been coming out of center field a few times for us and saved some games,” said Charger coach Tracy Beatty. “She’s been outstanding — I don’t even call her my second pitcher. She’s a pressure player, the more pressure the better.”
Meanwhile, freshman Hailee Massie was both a starter and reliever for the Gators. She held the Chargers (5-11, 1-2) scoreless in the first inning. Then Sam Golf took over in the circle. When she hurt her arm in the midst of a 4-run Charger fourth inning, Massie returned. With the bases loaded, one out, and a 1-2 count on Mallory Schilf, Massie finished off Schilf and got Lococo to end the inning.
“The plan was, if we could score runs and jump out early today, to try not to pitch Massie back-to-back days, and we have Jacobs (Thursday),” said South coach Scott Busam. “We jumped out to a nice lead, started hitting the ball pretty hard, so I had to make a change. When Sam hurt her shoulder, Massie came in and did what she does well. She gets girls out.”
The Gators jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, thanks in large part to a run-scoring single by Bochat and a 2-run hit by Jenica Terry.
The back-to-back jacks helped make it 9-0, but the Chargers plugged away with single runs in the second and third before exploding in the fourth. Lococo’s homer and 3 straight RBI singles by Mandy Moore, Eissler, and Jessica Lewandowski fueled the rally.
The Chargers scored again in the seventh on Love’s run-scoring single. They eventually loaded the bases, but Massie got Eissler to line out to end the game.