Late rally stops Glenbard South's title run

A game that started so grand for Jill Trzaska and Glenbard South ended in heartbreak.

Trzaska cracked a grand slam in the first inning of Friday's Class 3A state softball semifinal against Mattoon at EastSide Centre in East Peoria. But Mattoon rallied for 4 runs in the top of the seventh for a stunning 6-5 win over the Raiders.

Glenbard South (28-7) will play the loser of the Limestone/Marengo at 9:30 a.m. this morning for third place. Those teams were locked in a scoreless game that was in extra innings at 2 p.m. Friday.

"It's disappointing, no doubt," said Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda. "I feel for the girls, especially the seniors. I may get this opportunity again. They will not. The cool part about it is we get to play for third place tomorrow (Saturday)."

Trzaska (20-3) struck out 15, and took a 5-2 lead into the seventh. Mattoon pulled within a run on pitcher Aubrey Frank's 2-run homer, and with one out Bailiegh Basham singled.

Danielle Flowers dropped down a bunt, and on the throw to first the umpire ruled that Glenbard South second baseman Jenny Wittenberg didn't get her foot on the bag. Both runners were safe.

"I asked her if she hit the bag," Fonda said, "and she said yes. I believe her. He was saying that she was searching for the bag and the runner beat her to it. That's a momentum-shifter, right there."

Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, and the tying run scored on a groundout. With two outs, Michelle Glenn lined a single to center, scoring Flowers with the go-head run.

"You're confident going into that last inning, and I'm sure Jill felt confident," Fonda said. "She probably wants that one pitch back she threw to Frank. She left one pitch up, and they took advantage. You can't take anything away from Jill. She had a phenomenal game. I'm proud of her."

It couldn't have started better for Glenbard South, going for its first state softball championship.

Trzaska struck out the first seven batters she faced. She didn't do badly with the bat, either.

After Glenbard South scored its first run on a Nikki Simpson single, Jess Fijolek walk and two infield errors, Trzaska came up with the bases loaded and two out. She crushed Frank's 0-1 offering over the left field fence for her second homer of the season and a 5-0 lead.

"I think I'll just remember playing here. No many teams get a chance to go to state," Trzaska said. "To hit a homer at state is something I'll never forget."

Trzaska retired Mattoon's first nine batters. But the Green Wave (32-5), who had scored a staggering 493 runs in 36 games coming in, pulled to within 5-2 in the fourth. Frank's two-strike, two-out single drove in a pair of runs. A Glenbard South error on a bunt keyed the rally.

"We can hit the ball, all of us can," Frank said. "It's just a matter of getting them together."

"They were definitely a great hitting team," Trzaska said. "Kudos to them for hitting everything I threw at them."