Softball: Lake Zurich's a hit - so far - against Antioch
Stephanie Keefe foiled the strategy during a key at-bat, but not even she and her hot-hitting Lake Zurich softball teammates could thwart a sizzling Antioch squad.
Antioch kept its eight-game winning streak intact Friday, as Mother Nature reverted to her temperamental ways, suspending the Sequoits' nonconference game at Lake Zurich after 3½ innings. Lake Zurich was due up in the bottom of the fourth, leading 8-1 when the umpires stopped the game.
It was 45 degrees and had been raining all game.
"You don't want anybody getting hurt, and (the umpires) felt the bases were getting a little slick," Lake Zurich coach Dan Giesey said.
Giesey added the two teams hope to resume the game a week before the start of regionals next month.
"We got a young team," said Giesey, whose Bears have only one senior, Mackenzie Brinn. "We're looking for games. Hopefully we are able to continue (the Antioch game) and pick it up at the end (of the regular season), because we're short on games at the end."
Antioch (12-5) entered having won 12 of its last 13 games. The Sequoits loaded the bases with none out in the first and got a deep drive to left off the bat of cleanup hitter Megan Lawrence. Bears left fielder Haley Gajewski caught the ball near the fence, and Antioch settled for only Lawrence's sacrifice fly in the inning.
Lake Zurich (8-9) took a 2-1 lead in the second on RBI from Maura Ginn and Brinn. The Bears then erupted for 6 runs on 5 hits in the third. Keefe started the scoring by ripping an RBI double, after Antioch intentionally walked Elizabeth Chialdikas (.711 batting average) for the second time in a row, even though Julia Zaucha was occupying first base after her leadoff single.
"I just knew that I had to get a base hit," said Keefe, a junior and three-year varsity player, who started in the circle. "We need to move base runners and get hits. We don't really need big bombs over the fence to win a game. We just got to get key hits at the right time."
Lake Zurich kept hitting in the third. Gajewski singled in a run, Abby Jokerst doubled in two, and Ginn added an RBI single for the Bears' fourth hit in a row.
"We hit a wall," said Antioch coach Anthony Rocco, whose Sequoits hit 8 homers and scored 20 runs against Wauconda the day before. "Megan Lawrence's (first-inning) shot - anywhere else, on a normal day, that's a grand slam and we're taking a 4-0 lead. It slowed us down, but we got to deal with it. We got to adjust to the elements. We got down, and we went through the motions."
Lake Zurich was coming off back-to-back North Suburban Conference losses to Warren and Stevenson on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
"The girls came ready to play," Giesey said. "They had an edge to them today. They came out and swung the bats. Which is what we've been doing all year. We've been hitting a ton."
The Bears look to continue their hot hitting Saturday, when they host New Trier in a 10 a.m. doubleheader.