Burlington C. downs DeKalb in wild one
Few words can be used to describe Saturday’s Class 3A Burlington Central regional softball championship game between the host Rockets and DeKalb.
Central blew a 7-0 lead after two innings, trailed by six after the top of the fifth, led by five going into the seventh and hung on to beat the Barbs, 19-18, to win its first regional title since 2009.
“That was interesting. That was very interesting,” said Rockets sophomore Brooke Gaylord, who earned the victory and walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth to give Central the lead.
The Rockets (28-8) advanced to the Belvidere North sectional semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. They will play either Marengo or Rockford Boylan. Their regional final at Rockford Boylan was postponed Saturday until Monday.
Bekah Harnish had a 2-run home run in the bottom first and the Rockets tacked on five more in the second for a 7-0 lead.
The Barbs (19-15) cut the deficit to 7-4, scoring four times in the third. They tied the game at 7-7 on a 3-run inside-the-park home run from Hannah Walter in the top of the fourth.
Sarah Kisch gave Central the lead again in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double.
In the fifth, DeKalb sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven times. Six of those runs were unearned as a two-out popout in the infield was not caught. Sarah Friedlund added a 2-run ground-rule double with the bases loaded later in the inning as the Barbs took a 14-8 lead.
“I couldn’t have predicted that,” Barbs coach Jeff Davis said of the high scoring. “I would have bet my house against that. There’s no way I would have said both teams get in double digits.”
Central answered with 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth. Emily Bell hit a 3-run home run to center that was almost caught at the fence. Haley Albamonte and Kisch added run-scoring singles as the Rockets got within one, 14-13.
Gaylord, who came in in the fifth, got the Barbs out in order in the top of the sixth. In the bottom half, Lauren King walked and Rebecca Roscher singled to start the inning. After a fielder’s choice got King out at third, Bell singled to load the bases. Harnish singled in Roscer for the tying run. Gaylord walked to bring in Courtni Neubauer for a 15-14 lead. Albamonte and Kisch again added run-scoring singles. King finished the scoring with a 2-run single for a 19-14 lead.
DeKalb got the first four batters of the seventh on and got within one, 19-18, on a Taylor Garland sacrifice fly. An infield single put the tying run on third and the go-ahead run at first. But Gaylord got a strikeout to end the game.
“We didn’t play very clean today,” Rockets coach Cray Allen said. “That why sports, especially IHSA athletics, are so much fun to watch. Just crazy things can happen.”
The Rockets had 20 hits. Harnish was 4-for-5 with 4 RBI and four runs scored. Bell was 3-for-5 with 4 RBI. Kisch, King and Roscher each also had 3 hits. Two of Roscher’s hits were doubles. Albamonte had 2 hits and 3 RBI.
Gaylord (11-4) threw 2 innings, giving up 6 hits and 4 runs, in relief of Angie Morrow. Morrow allowed 12 hits and 14 runs, but only 7 of the runs were earned.
“I don’t know how it happened,” Harnish said. “We stuck together and played as a team.”