Jacobs squeaks past Crystal Lake South
Alyssa Lach was determined to score the game-winning run.
Lach, who led off the seventh inning for Jacobs with a walk, scored from second when Emily Borg reached on an error to give the Golden Eagles an exhilarating 7-6 win over Crystal Lake South in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division softball action in Algonquin Wednesday afternoon.
"I got a good jump off second and was moving toward third when Emily hit the ball," said Lach. "Once I saw the ball bobbled at first base I knew I could score. We did a great job of battling the whole game. This is a huge conference win."
In a game that had many momentum changes, South (4-4, 0-1) broke a 4-4 tie with 2 runs in the sixth on a double from Erin Yazel to take a 6-4 advantage.
Jacobs bounced back in the bottom of the inning with 2 runs on Taylor Belo's double to tie the game at 6.
"It was certainly a back-and-forth, back-and-forth game," said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. "I like the way we kept battling and scoring. The top of the order did a good job of getting on base and the bottom of the order got some clutch hits, It was a great way to win a game. It was a nice conference win against a good South team."
Belo paced the Jacobs 7-hit attack with 2 hits, including a double, a triple and 3 RBI.
Borg got the Golden Eagles (9-2, 1-1) off to a good start with a booming 2-run homer over the left-field fence. Lach also lofted a sacrifice fly in Jacobs' 3-run first inning.
South, which belted out 10 hits against winning pitcher Kelsey Peters, got 2 hits each from Kim Woods (2 runs scored), Sam McLean, Taylor Kassel (RBI double) and Caitlin Fater (double, 2 runs scored).
"Give Jacobs credit, they hit the ball hard and hit some shots and found the gaps," said Crystal Lake South coach Scott Busam. "This one-run loss stings and is very disappointing because if we do the little things well we win the game. It is a game we could have won and should have won. I am hoping we learn from this loss and make less mistakes the next time we play."