Softball: Burke, Warren outduel Lake Zurich for key NSC victory

With a three-way tie for first place in the North Suburban Conference softball standings, Thursday afternoon's game between host Warren and Lake Zurich could help decide who captures the conference title.

The game was a classic pitchers’ duel from start to finish between Warren freshman Adriana Burke and Lake Zurich sophomore Juliana Kekstadt. And in the end the host Blue Devils scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to pull off an exciting 1-0 NSC victory in walk-off fashion.

Warren (11-5, 7-1) now holds a half-game lead over Mundelein (9-3, 6-1) while the Bears (9-7, 6-2) are in third place.

Freshman Brooklynn Parish (2-for-3) singled to right field with one out to start the game-winning rally. Freshman pinch-hitter Lexi Beckman's ground ball should have resulted in a force out at second base, but an error would put runners on second and third with one out.

Burke followed with a ground ball to shortstop who fired the ball home, but the throw was a bit to the catcher's right, and freshman courtesy runner Sadie Venhorst scored the winning run to set off a wild celebration by the Blue Devils.

"It's always nice to win a 1-run ballgame. It was a good team effort, and a great job on the mound by Adriana keeping them off balance enough," said Warren coach Jenna Charbonneau. "They made some great defensive plays in the infield, and the last four girls were all freshmen so it was good to see freshmen have success."

Warren outhit the Bears 5-4. Lake Zurich's Cami Lewandowski was 2-for-3 while teammate Brooklyn Barber was 1-for-2 with a walk.

"It was definitely a tough win, but if I didn't have my defense behind me we wouldn't have been able to do it," said Burke. "We just want to compete, hopefully make it to state, and keep playing how we're playing as a team."

Lake Zurich's best scoring chances came in the third and fifth innings when it had a runner on second base. But Burke was able to get out of the jam with no runs scored despite an outfield error in the fifth inning.

"It just came down to hitting, and we weren't able to string hits together," said Lake Zurich coach Nicole Pieper. "Juliana (Kekstadt) has been doing a great job for us, and it's still anyone's battle to win the conference."