Perfect pitch keeps Antioch humming along

A perfect pitch meant Antioch’s softball perfection over Lakes continued.

And how perfect was the matchup with the game on the line?

Try the power arm of three-year varsity ace Olivia Duehr against the power bat of four-year varsity ace Shannon Cooley.

With the tying run on first base and two out in the top of the seventh, Duehr struck out the dangerous Cooley on a changeup, preserving a 4-3 win for the Sequoits in Saturday’s Class 3A regional final at Richmond-Burton.

“That definitely saved me today,” Duehr said of her nasty off-speed pitch, which eluded several Lakes bats. “Without a changeup, I don’t know if we win.”

Without Sam Kozenski, maybe Antioch loses to the Eagles for the first time in Lakes’ six years of varsity softball, instead of improving to 26-8 and earning a berth in Thursday’s 4 p.m. sectional semifinal against Marengo (28-9) at Grayslake Central.

Kozenski, the Sequoits’ senior left fielder, grabbed Cooley’s first-inning drive with her glove over the fence. Jasmine Rivera (leadoff double) and Jamie Dykstra (walk) were on base at the time.

“She nailed it,” Lakes coach Bill Hamill said of Cooley’s fly out, which was deep enough to allow both runners to tag up and advance a base.

“Our left fielder definitely saved the game for us, because that’s a home run,” Duehr said. “If she’s not there on the fence ready to catch it, it goes over.”

Sara Braden followed with a groundball that plated Rivera and then Dykstra when the ball was thrown away. Megan Massie’s bases-loaded walk had the Eagles up 3-0 after a half inning.

Antioch never panicked.

“I knew we would come back and score against them, because we always do,” Sequoits leadoff hitter/shortstop Jess Liszka said. “I was confident in our hitting as long as we got it back together and played as a team.”

Duehr singled home Liszka (walk) in the bottom of the first. Consecutive singles by Duehr, Amber Mysliwiec and Katie Phillips (RBI), plus an error, got Antioch even in a 2-run fifth.

Liszka led off the bottom of the sixth with her second walk, and Katie Keefe bunted up her teammate for a second time.

That brought up the slugging Duehr ... who dinked one.

The senior fought off a good pitch by Cooley, hitting the ball just out of the reach of second baseman Braden behind the first-base bag. Braden threw to first, too late to retire the speedy Duehr. Liszka never stopped running and beat first baseman Lindsay Meverden’s relay throw home with the go-ahead run.

It was Duehr’s third hit.

“We played the percentages on Olivia,” Hamill said. “Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time she (hits the ball in the gaps). I just slide my second baseman three steps and (Duehr) ‘ducksnorts’ one. ... Sara made a heck of an attempt for it, and if I didn’t move her three steps (toward second base) she catches the ball, we’re out of the inning and it’s still 3-3.”

Antioch coach Jeff Tylka said he was sending Liszka all the way, even if Braden held the ball after fielding it.

“I thought (Braden) was throwing home and we were going to be out,” Tylka said. “But I was sending her the whole way. I want to see if they can make a perfect throw.”

“I was scared (running home), because I knew the hit wasn’t deep,” Liszka said. “I knew it was going to be a close play.”

Duehr struck out the side in the seventh, despite issuing a one-out walk to Rivera. Duehr fanned 12 and allowed only 2 hits after giving up 2 in the first.

Meverden (2-for-3) had half of the Eagles’ hits. Rivera had the game’s only extra-base hit.

“They never get in my head,” Rivera said of the archrival Sequoits. “I play the game like I know I can and I do everything I can for my team.

“It was a tough loss, a tough way to end the season.”

Mysliwiec went 2-for-4 for Antioch, which captured its third straight regional title.

“I was talking to my brother (C.J.) (Friday) night and he goes, ‘Well, how’s it going to go?’ ” Tylka said. “I’m like, ‘(Lakes) is a really good team. They’re athletic. The only part that scares me is, they’ve never beaten us. It’s going to happen. But when is it going to happen?’ ”

Not this year.