Softball: Antioch takes high-scoring thriller over Prairie Ridge to reach 3A state tournament
Antioch’s Claire Schuler was looking for a chance to make amends when she came to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning of Monday’s Class 3A Kaneland supersectional against Prairie Ridge with the score tied 10-10, no outs and teammate Samantha Hillner on first base.
Two innings earlier, Schuler was in a similar situation — tie score, runner on third and two outs — and the senior went down swinging.
Schuler’s second extra innings at-bat ended in a more dramatic fashion when she laced the ball into right center field allowing Hillner to score all the way from first base with the winning run.
With the 11-10 victory, Antioch won the supersectional title, its third in four years, and secured a berth in this weekend’s Class 3A state tournament in Peoria. The Sequoits face Dunlap in the first semifinal Friday.
Antioch (32-3) turned the tables on Prairie Ridge (23-8). Last year, the Wolves edged the Sequoits 1-0 in eight innings to win the supersectional.
Antioch is battled tested.
“This group is unbelievably mentally tough. This is my strongest mental team ever,” Antioch coach Anthony Rocco said. “For our seniors this is our third trip downstate. They've been in worse situations before. We've battled out of it and we just keep showing up and doing our job.”
Schuler remained calm and stepped into the batter’s box.
“Honestly, I was a little nervous, especially after my last at-bat when I struck out on that change-up, but I just thought, I’ve just got to do it for my team,” Schuler said about her final plate appearance. “I was just over the moon when I hit it and so excited seeing my teammates run after me. It was the best feeling in the world.”
The walk-off hit ended a back-and-forth game. Prairie Ridge jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Bella Moore’s two-run homer to left. Antioch promptly tied the game in its half of the frame. Schuler’s triple plated Hillner and the Minnesota commit scored when Addison Webb reached base on an error. The Sequoits took the lead on a run in the second only to have Prairie Ridge knot the game in the third.
The Wolves batted around in the fourth, scoring five runs to pull out in front 8-3. Antioch’s Stella Dohrman replaced starting pitcher Addison Osbourne in the circle at the start of the inning. After the first four batters, Osbourne returned.
“When I got taken out I felt like I just needed to work on my spin a lot,” the sophomore said. “When I went back in, once it stuck, we just kept with it for the rest of the game.”
Osbourne finished the game. Prairie Ridge starter Reese Mosolino went the distance for the Wolves.
Antioch closed the gap with three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. The Sequoits tied the game 9-9 in the sixth when Hillner scored on Schulyer’s double. The senior went 4 for 6 with 3 RBI.
The game stayed deadlocked until the top of the 10th. Kylie Rosene’s double knocked in Morgan Powal to put Prairie Ridge in front 10-9.
Antioch wasted no time in its half of the frame to knot the score. Leadoff batter Tegan Schuler was hit by a pitch and scored on Addison Housh’s double. Hillner, the next batter, was intentionally walked, setting up Schulyer’s winning at-bat.
“Unfortunately, they don't give ties in situations like this because both teams played well enough to win,” Prairie Ridge coach Scott Busan said. “They made fewer mistakes than we did today and they came up with the clutch hits in the big moments.”