Softball: Huntley wins wild game over Crystal Lake South
The way Huntley and Crystal Lake South were trading big hits and crooked numbers Thursday, Red Raiders coach Mark Petryniec wasn't happy to be the visiting team.
Good thing for Petryniec and the Raiders he had an ace up his sleeve.
Freshman Briana Bower made that home-field advantage a moot point, setting the Gators down in order in the bottom of the seventh to preserve a wild 9-7 win.
That after Bower also pitched a dominating fifth and sixth inning. After the Gators pounded 10 hits and 7 runs in the first four innings against Tiffany Giese, Bower entered and overpowered Crystal Lake South, throwing three hitless innings with 4 strikeouts.
"We were fortunate Bri came in and had a great day today and was able to slow their bats down a little bit," Petryniec said. "We capitalized on some miscues and were fortunate to come away with a W against a really good team today."
The win was the fourth straight for Huntley (21-5, 10-1) this week in Fox Valley Conference play as the Red Raiders close in on a third straight conference title.
Crystal Lake South (17-6, 9-4) was its own worst enemy with 6 errors including 2 in the first inning that led to an early 3-0 deficit and 1 in the seventh that set up the Red Raiders' winning rally.
"And that didn't include the mental mistakes," Gators coach Scott Busam said. "There was a focus issue here today and I was disappointed with that.
"It was a big day for our defense to let us down. They have been pretty sound this season. (Starter) Lauren (Schoen) has been so good about pitching with confidence and putting her faith in the defense and today we let her down collectively."
Tied 7-7 in the seventh, Schoen retired the first two hitters before an infield error kept the inning alive. The Gators intentionally walked Giese - who reached base all five at-bats - before Marley Reicher bunted for a hit to load the bases.
Sofia Tenula delivered the game-winning hit, a liner that dropped in center field and scored two.
"I was thinking anything I could do to get on base," Tenula said. "That was the one goal. I saw an outside pitch and I went with it.
"We give everything we've got in every game. We don't stop battling no matter what."
Huntley took a 3-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Autumn Kasal and Grace Kutz.
After Maddie Bush singled home a run for the Gators in the first, they scored four times in the second for a 5-3 lead. Brooke Kuffel doubled in a run, Emily Sulikowski ripped a 2-run single, and Bush lofted a sacrifice fly.
"When we go down 3 runs I don't get too anxious about it because we can hit," Busam said. "I have patient, disciplined hitters on my team. We can catch up."
Huntley answered with its own 4-spot in the fourth for a 7-5 lead, a rally sparked by Giese's leadoff double. She scored on Tenula's single, and Kasal followed with a 2-run homer.
The Gators made it 7-7 with 2 runs in the fourth. Bush drove in a run in her third straight at-bat, this time a double, and Christina Toniolo tied the game with an RBI groundout.
That was all the offense until Tenula capped Huntley's 2-out rally in the seventh.
"In that situation you want your 3-hole hitter up," Petryniec said. "I think it's more a testament of how we set the table to get Sofia up to bat.
"We did a nice job responding. We didn't have great quality at-bats in the beginning but we did a god job adjusting. Hats off to the Crystal Lake South hitters, they tore the cover off the ball in the beginning of the game."