Softball: Kaneland falls to Crystal Lake Central in bottom of the seventh inning

Crystal Lake Central’s Makayla Malone wasn’t having a good time against Kaneland’s Brynn Woods.

The Tigers senior was hitless in three at-bats with two strikeouts against the Knights junior ace, but one final chance in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday turned her day around.

After Kaneland rallied for two runs with two outs in the top half to tie the game, Malone came through with a hard hit to center field to score freshman Ella Mueller and give the Tigers a walk-off 4-3 win over the Knights in the Class 3A Woodstock North regional championship.

An overjoyed Malone stood tall on second base as Mueller made a wild slide into home plate for the game-winning run. Malone stayed on second after her walk-off double, and soon her Tigers teammates rushed over and celebrated the team’s first regional championship since 2016, first in Class 3A.

“I was super nervous,” Malone said of her final at-bat. “We worked so hard all game. We had such good energy. All game I was struggling, so it felt good to contribute. It felt like a movie, honestly.”

Kaneland (24-13), which had won nine consecutive regional titles going into Friday, was down to its last out in the seventh against Tigers sophomore Oli Victorine when freshman Addison Coulter, who homered in the second, blasted a home run over the left-field fence to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Junior Natalie Naab then doubled to center field. The next batter, junior Ellie Peck, hit a pop-up to short right field that just hit off second baseman Adi Waliullah’s glove as she ran back to try and make the catch, scoring Naab. Victorine then got out of the inning with her 11th strikeout and the score tied at 3-3.

Coulter, in her first year, leads the Knights in home runs.

“I was really just thinking to have fun and keep loose,” Coulter said of her seventh-inning homer. “She’s obviously a good pitcher, but I was thinking about keeping my bat through the zone as best as I could just so I could get a basehit.

“We showed we won’t give up until the final out. We’re competitive and we want to win.”

Mueller, batting ninth in the lineup for the Tigers (24-6), got behind in her at-bat 1-2 to start the seventh but held back her swing and pulled a changeup into short left field for her first hit after also striking out twice against Woods.

Sophomore Ella Arana then bunted Mueller to second base before Malone’s walk-off winner.

“The first few at-bats were not it,” Mueller said. “I knew I just had to get on base because I knew the next batters were going to hit me in because that’s how much trust I have in my team.”

Mueller called her headfirst slide into home plate her “best ever.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever ran so hard in my life,” she said.

Victorine struck out 11 and walked two in seven innings for the Tigers, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits. For the Knights, Woods had 10 strikeouts and a walk in 6⅓ innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on six hits.

Woods remained positive after the tough loss.

“With it being such a young team this year, I feel like everyone came together at the perfect time,” said Woods, whose Knights improved by 13 wins after going 11-14 last year. “This wasn’t our best today, a couple of things didn’t go our way, but we still fought through it, and I think that shows a lot about how we’re going to come back next year.”

Crystal Lake Central coach Brian Strombom felt all the pieces were there for a comeback in the seventh.

As Malone went up for her final at-bat, Strombom shouted her way: “This is your time. This is your time.”

“I knew we had it in us, but I also knew a lot about Kaneland — that they would be the type of team to not quit and take every opportunity they could — and they did,” Strombom said.

“Mueller, a freshman with two strikes on her, gets it all started. Then we have one of our best hitters (Arana) with the sacrifice bunt, and then (Malone) just took care of the rest. Big moment. Big play.”

Kaneland graduates three seniors: Angelina Campise, Graycin Slou and Gianna Cellini.

“We don’t have captains on our team, we never have because we feel like everybody needs to lead at some point in the season,” Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler said. “But our seniors over the years, they’ve stepped up. They’ve done a great job of keeping this group of young girls together.”

Crystal Lake Central advances to play Sycamore in a Sycamore sectional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.