Wheaton Academy advances past Fenton
After Wednesday's 8-4 win over Fenton in a Class 3A IMSA regional semifinal, a cheer could be heard in the Wheaton Academy postgame huddle when coach Norbert Pivaronas announced, "You are going to a regional final."
But it wasn't easy for the eighth-seeded Warriors (14-13) to advance to Friday's 4:30 p.m. regional final against Montini, the top seed of its own sectional.
Wheaton Academy jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings and looked capable of putting the contest on cruise control. The ninth-seeded Bison, though, made it clear they weren't going to go down without a fight.
"We haven't faced Montini yet this season, but we're looking forward to it," Pivaronas said. "The Fenton ballclub battled very hard. They're a very good team."
The Warriors' bats were warmed up and ready to go in their half of the first as Wheaton Academy batted around, scoring 4 runs on 5 hits.
Leadoff hitter Madison Ebeling singled to left followed by Meghan Gagliano's bunt turning into an infield hit. Then with one out, Autumn Ratliff doubled to right, scoring Ebeling and Gagliano.
Wheaton Academy made it 5-0 in the second. Gagliano connected on her second of 3 hits on the day, this time a single to right. A fielding error scored her and put Jessica Bosse on base.
Before the fourth inning Fenton (15-21) had just 1 hit, Jill Mrugacz's infield hit in the third. The Bison cranked out 6 over the final four innings, including 3 in the fourth that resulted in the team's first 2 runs.
Starting pitcher Dana Fritz, the team's lone senior, started the inning off with a single to short center. With one out Jenna Geraci singled was followed by Alex Stoklosa's basehit which scored Fritz. Geraci came home on Rose Riley's groundball out.
Wheaton Academy made it 6-2 in their half of the fourth. Ratliff got her third hit of the day and her second double. Andi Pavaronas' infield hit moved her to third and Ratliff would score on a wild pitch.
The Bison pulled to within 6-4 in the sixth. Diana Pikul singled to left with one out followed by Geraci's single to right. Riley's second groundball out RBI scored Pikul and a fielding error brought home Geraci.
The Warriors got some breathing room in the bottom of the inning. Gagliano reached on an error and hit home on Bosse's triple. Pavaronas' groundball out scored her.
"We kept our heads up the whole time. I thought we did pretty good. We just didn't have enough," said Fenton assistant coach Beth Keathley.
Courtney Kinnane was the winning pitcher. She struck out 4.
"I am so proud of this team. It was a team effort to get to this point," Gagliano said.
As for Fenton, with just one senior on this spring's roster, 2016 looks bright. And many of this season's losses were close indicating the Bison aren't that far off from taking a step up the success ladder.
"Errors killed us and we hope to minimize them. We need to make plays when we need to make plays. We have good hitters. But they need to capitalize and hit together," Keathley said.