Burlington Central splits with Moline
DeKALB — Burlington Central senior Haley Albamonte remembers playing at Northern Illinois University's Mary M. Bell Field in a supersectional game her freshman season.
She probably will remember Friday's visit as well.
Albamonte scored the game-winning run as the Rockets scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to beat defending Class 4A state champion Moline, 9-8, in the second game of a doubleheader. Moline beat Central, 5-1, in the first game to snap the Rockets' 14-game winning streak.
“I kind of started off here back during my freshman year when we won supersectionals before going downstate,” said Albamonte, who went 3-for-4 in the second game. “It feels great. Good things happen on this field for Rockets softball.”
The Rockets (24-8) grabbed a 4-0 lead in the first inning of the second game. Bekah Harnish had a 2-run double and scored on a throwing error. Angie Morrow added an RBI single.
The Maroons (20-10) scored twice in the third, once in the fourth and five times in the fifth to take an 8-4 lead. Central cut the deficit to 8-6 in the bottom of the fifth. Harnish had an RBI triple and scored on a wild pitch.
Harnish led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. Brooke Gaylord followed with an infield single. Albamonte singled to right to drive in Harnish. Pinch-hitter Rebecca Roscher drove in Gaylord with a double. On the next pitch, the ball got away and Albamonte slid head first into home for the victory.
“I got one word to describe this team this year, ‘Guts,' ” Rockets coach Cray Allen said. “Coming back from a pretty thorough loss in the first game. To do this, they've got some guts.”
Morrow (11-4) earned the victory in Game 2. The freshman came in in relief and threw 3 innings, allowing 4 hits and 3 runs. She suffered the loss in opening game.
In the opener, Moline scored twice in the third with two outs and added three in the fourth. The Rockets managed just 3 hits. Sarah Kisch and Gaylord each doubled in the fifth to produce Central's lone run.
“They are a great team, 1 through 9,” Albamante said of Moline. “They're solid. It just shows that if we can beat them, we can beat anyone and we're ready to compete the next few weeks.”