Conant passes test from Elk Grove

Conant’s softball team showed Friday it is serious about defending its Mid-Suburban League championship.

Facing an Elk Grove that was nationally ranked prior to the season and which is the defending MSL East champion, the Cougars opened up a 6-1 lead after five innings and then held off a valiant seventh-inning rally by the Grens.

When Conant senior ace Briana Cavin (11-1) got the final batter on a groundout to shortstop Allie Bauch with the tying runs on base, Conant had secured a 6-4 triumph in the MSL crossover showdown.

The Cougars (11-1, 3-0) are tied with Barrington (13-2, 3-0) for first place in the MSL West. The two teams meet Monday in Hoffman Estates.

“We had a few mental mistakes at the end and they hit the ball hard that last inning,” said Briana Cavin, who threw a 6-hitter with 4 strikeouts to her sister Miranda. “We just didn’t play well the last inning. They deserved to score those runs.”

Conant got 5 runs in the first three innings.

Miranda Cavin’s two-out single to center in the first scored Rachel O’Malley for a 1-0 lead.

Sophomore Telly Hunter belted a one-out 2-run homer over the right-center field fence in the second for a 3-0 lead.

And Kim Jacobson singled up the middle in the third with no outs to bring in Allie Bauch and O’Malley for a 5-1 cushion.

The Cougars still had two runners on base but Grens ace Dani Goranson (6-3) avoided further damage with 3 strikeouts.

She also struck out the side in the fourth inning and had 12 strikeouts for the game.

“I thought Dani was terrific,” said Elk Grove coach Ken Grams. “And I thought we had a number of hits off a great pitcher.”

Goranson scored Elk Grove’s first run in the third when she walked and her pinch runner Marjorie Sloan came home on an infield error.

Conant added its final run in the sixth to make it 6-1 when lefty Sarah Thompson singled to the opposite field with one out to bring home O’Malley, who drew a leadoff walk.

The Grens (9-3, 2-1), who lost to Conant in the MSL title game a year ago, did their best to keep the drama alive in the top of the seventh.

Goranson (1-for-2) led off with an opposite field single to left. Catcher Devan Parkison reached on an error and Megan Keegan singled to the left-center field fence to drive home pinch runner Sloan.

Carly Danek then singled to the right-center field fence, scoring Parkison.

After Krista Soesbe was hit by a pitch, Becca Walz flied out to left. But alert pinch runner Danielle Boffice tagged up at third and scooted home to make it 6-4.

The Grens still had two runners on base but Briana Cavin got out of the jam with a superb running catch in shallow left field by second baseman O’Malley and the groundout to Bauch.

“We went down swinging hard,” said Keegan, who was 2-for-4. “That’s a positive. It took us a little while but we fought back. We were facing a tough team and we just have to keep out heads up and continue to work toward our goals.”

Bauch (2-for-2) and Miranda Cavin (2-for-2, 1 walk, RBI) were the multiple hitters for Conant.

Hunter’s homer run was her third of the season, including a grand slam against Oswego.

“This was awesome,” said Hunter, a sophomore first baseman. “We just want to keep moving forward.”

“Telly’s a great kid,” said Cougars coach CathyAnn Smith. “She was out for a few games with an ankle injury. That was a great hit. I’m really proud of her.”

Smith was pleased with the way her team finished the final two outs.

“We had a little lull there at the with some mental mistakes, and they hit the ball but we were able to find a way to finish,” Smith said. “That was a great catch by Rachel (O’Malley). We had some great leadership out there and we stayed together to secure the win.”

The Grens had chances throughout the game, stranding 10 runners. Elk Grove had 7 hits but the Cougars took away a few.

Danek was robbed in the third on a great over-the-shoulder running catch just before the fence by center fielder Thompson.

Cougars freshman left fielder Elise Ambrose made a nifty sliding catch to her right on Goranson’s smash with the bases loaded (Soesbe, Andrea Starr and Becca Maher) and two outs in the fourth inning.

“That’s the nature of the game,” said Grams about the missed opportunities. “Those are things you can’t control. They just had some things go in the right spots and their timing was better than ours.

“We battled back. They are a good team. We’d certainly like to think we are, too.”