Prairie Ridge 4, Jacobs 2
Two good pitchers are certainly better than one.
Prairie Ridge softball coach Mike Buck certainly adheres to that philosophy.
Utilizing effectively both Erika Trojan and Johanna Turner in the pitchers circle, the fourth-seeded Wolves shocked highly favored and No. 1 Jacobs 4-2 in a first round game of the Class 4A Jacobs regional in Algonquin Tuesday afternoon.
"Both Erika and Johanna were outstanding," said Buck. "Erika went through their lineup twice and Jacobs is an outstanding hitting team. We wanted to give them a different look. Johanna came in and did a great job."
The Wolves (22-11) advance to Saturday's regional title game at 11 a.m. against the winner of today's game between Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South.
Jacobs, which set a school record for wins this season, finished 27-4.
Trojan, who earned the win, pitched the first 4 innings for PR. The hard-throwing junior limited Jacobs to 1 unearned run on 4 hits. She didn't walk or strike out a hitter.
Turner hurled the final 3 innings. The sophomore gave up a run in the seventh inning on 3 hits. She struck out two without allowing a base on balls.
"It was very nerve wracking in the seventh inning," said Turner. "My curve and fastball were both working well. I was able to hit the outside corners all day. This is a great win."
Trailing 1-0, the Wolves scored 3 in the top of the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. The key hits in the inning were RBI singles by Lauren Seegers, Kelsey Brennan and Turner.
PR added an insurance run in the seventh to take a 4-1 lead. Anna Patras, who stroked a one-out triple, scored on a perfectly executed squeeze by Trojan.
Jacobs rallied for a run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI double by Sarah Jacobson. But Turner got tough and induced Jacobs standout Lauren Arcenaux to line out to second to end the game.
"We came ready to play and we came ready to play hard," said Buck. "We got a couple of breaks and got great pitching. This is a great win because Jacobs is a great team."
Jacobs freshman Kara Arcenaux, who absorbed the loss, gave up 4 runs on 7 hits. She struck out three with 3 walks.
Trojan and Seegers had 2 hits apiece for the Wolves.
Stephanie Schmidt led Jacobs at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance. Lauren Arcenaux added 2 hits for the Golden Eagles.
"People can say we had a great season, but we were looking forward to going further in the tournament," said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. "This is very disappointing. They got the key hits and we didn't."