Softball: Antioch downs Carmel for fifth straight sectional crown
As they were en route to a second consecutive Class 3A championship game appearance last spring, Antioch defeated Carmel for its 11th straight regional title.
That defeat left an impression on a young Corsairs squad that served as a driving force this season to return to the sectional round as they arrived to face the Sequoits at Grayslake Central Saturday morning in their first sectional final since 2016.
"We knew from that moment on that we wanted to come back and visit them again in the postseason," Corsairs coach Nicole Parney said.
"We strived and did what we needed to do to get here."
Despite their best foot forward, they ran headfirst into a top-seeded Sequoits squad that defeated No. 2 Carmel 13-9 to capture its fifth straight rectangular plaque.
Antioch (24-13) will travel to Maple Park Monday afternoon for a supersectional bout with Prairie Ridge (27-1-1) at Kaneland.
The Wolves earned a 5-2 win over Crystal Lake Central (25-7) in Friday's Sycamore sectional Final.
"We had a good game game plan," Antioch coach Anthony Rocco said.
"I joke with (our team) that we might have a bad game here and there, but they never get rattled. They kept in there, you didn't see any freakout plays at the end of the game. I'm proud of them. They know what it takes to win these games."
Things got off to good start for the Seqoits in their first at-bat as they scored twice with the second run coming off the bat of first baseman Sam Hillner (4-for-4) over the fence in center field for the first of her two home runs on the morning.
That lead expanded to 6-0 after three courtesy of a four-run outburst in their half of the third which featured a Tegan Schuler two-run inside the park round tripper in which her hit curved its way to the corner of the field just past the first base line.
Carmel (20-10) began to claw its way back with three runs in the top of the fourth which saw shortstop Grace Brown connect on a two-run homer.
After the Sequouts advantage grew to 9-3 after scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth and Hillner's two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, Carmel tallied three runs each in both the top of innings 6 and 7.
It was highlighted by an RBI single from designated player Katalan Young and left fielder Sofia Koritsaris in the sixth and another run-producing hit by Kaitlyn Konen that brought in a second score on a throwing error in the seventh.
Unfortunately for the Corsairs, Antioch inserted four more runs in its half of the sixth including a two-run double by Hillner which gave them a 13-6 lead heading into the seventh.
Hillner, a junior and third year letterwinner, spoke of her squad's growing chemistry that helped them go 24-7 after an 0-6 start to their season.
"It's such a close group of girls and I feel like we all get along,“ Hillner said. ”We're all confident with each other and we all knew that everybody had each other's back which was one of the key aspects of this team's growth."