Softball: Antioch handles Wauconda for sectional title
Antioch junior center fielder Eden Echevarria got a mouthful of infield dirt while stealing second base in Friday afternoon's Class 3A Lakes softball sectional final in Lake Villa.
The Sequoit popped up in the bottom of the fifth inning, brushed off her uniform and then spewed out a plume of dust via a cough.
"Some rocks, too," the birthday girl - she turned 17 on Friday - would recall with a smile later.
But Echevarria got to taste something significantly better about 30 minutes later: victory.
Top-seeded Antioch defeated second-seeded Wauconda 6-0 to capture its second straight sectional championship. Antioch (28-3) will face the host school in the Kaneland supersectional Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Kaneland topped Belvidere North 5-0 in the Sycamore sectional final Friday afternoon.
Echevarria and sophomore pitcher Jacey Schuler performed superbly in uber-pleasant weather conditions against the Bulldogs, who fell 18-11 to Antioch in a sectional final at Wauconda last spring.
Echevarria went 1-for-2 with 2 walks, scored 3 runs and survived that grimy stolen base Friday. Nobody had a busier afternoon around the base paths than the Wisconsin recruit did.
Schuler?
All she did was amass 12 strikeouts and allow 3 hits in 7 innings to improve to 19-2. The efficient righty fanned the side in the third frame and walked nobody.
"Great control," Sequoits coach Anthony Rocco said of his poised hurler, who struck out 14 and yielded only 1 hit in her previous playoff outing. "She's elite for a reason."
"Jacey," Echevarria added, "doesn't get overwhelmed in high-pressure games."
Leadoff hitter Echevarria ripped a single to left on the second pitch she saw from Bulldogs senior ace Rachel Peat (14-4) and scored the first run on a sacrifice fly to shallow right off the bat of junior second baseman Emily Brecht.
Schuler made it 2-0 in the third inning, doubling to right-center to drive in Echevarria, who had coaxed a four-pitch walk to open the inning.
"We'd talked before the game," Rocco said. "I told Eden, 'Hey, get us started any way you can today. Get on base, take a walk, maybe get a hit here and there.' She was active. She played with confidence.
"Our whole team did."
Antioch plated 4 runs in the fifth, when eight Sequoits batted. Consecutive singles by sophomores Grace Green and Aubrey Ultsch knocked in the fourth and fifth runs, and junior Syerra Gilmore capped the scoring with an RBI double.
The Northern Lake Country Conference rivals split their regular-season meetings, with Antioch winning 12-2 on its home field and host Wauconda receiving a gem from Peat to take the rematch 2-0.
Wauconda finished 2022 with a 24-8 record.
"Hard-fought battle," Bulldogs coach Tim Orisek said. "Give Jacey a lot of credit; she threw a great game. We just couldn't string a few hits together.
"I got to coach a great group of kids this spring. I'm not upset at all right now. I'm extremely proud. I'd take this group of players over nine D-I players any day."