West Chicago changes reality

Reality hit Mary Connolly, three outs to go and one run down staring at maybe her last high school game.

“I was literally tearing up in the dugout,” said the West Chicago senior. “I was like, ‘This can’t be it.’”

It wasn’t it.

No. 5 seed West Chicago scored 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, rallying for a 3-2 win over No. 12 Wheaton Warrenville South in Thursday’s Class 4A Glenbard North regional semifinal.

Jessica Wood’s hard-hit ball to third base was thrown away, scoring both runs.

“I knew we could come back,” Wood said. “As a team we just pulled it together.”

The two teams were playing for the second time in eight days. The Thursday before West Chicago beat WW South in 17 innings to clinch the DuPage Valley Conference championship outright.

In another unusual twist the game was moved to Glenbard West and its turf outfield with Glenbard North’s field unplayable.

The plot twists didn’t stop there. Amanda Gosbeth, whose throwing error in the fifth inning brought home WW South’s go-ahead run, singled to lead off the West Chicago seventh.

Tarah Rayos tried to put down a sacrifice bunt without success but on a full count lined a single to center.

Rachel Johnson’s bunt advanced the runners, bringing up Wood. Wood’s single had scored Rayos with West Chicago’s first run in the third, and she banged a one-hopper knocked down by the third baseman. The throw to first skipped away, and Gosbeth and Rayos both scored.

“I just knew that our team could pull through,” Gosbeth said. “I just had to start it off.”

“We’ve always had a hard time coming back throughout the season,” Connolly said. “If we get down, we can never push it across. But we all told ourselves before the game, ‘This isn’t conference. You don’t get second chances in the playoffs.’ If you want it, you gotta go for it and we did.”

It was a tough way to go out for WW South (19-16), which said goodbye to a big group of seniors, including Division I recruits Hannah Granger (Minnesota) and Timmie Rappe (Ohio).

The Tigers scored twice in the fifth off Connolly. Megan Zablock doubled leading off and scored on a passed ball and one-out wild pitch. Rayanna Becker drew a walk, and on Sarah Skurla’s grounder the throw to second from Gosbeth went wide, rolling all the way to the right-field fence to score Becker.

But WW South stranded runners at first and third.

“We had a good chance. I thought we had it,” Tigers coach Denise McCance said. “This is the most experienced team I’ve had here, and I’ve been here since 1998. I knew our focus would be good, with the type of experience we had.”

Connolly (17-7) allowed 3 hits and struck out 11, the 11th the 1,000th of her career. She is the third girl from DuPage County to reach 1,000, according to the IHSA record books.

Next stop? West Chicago (20-10) gets Round 3 with Glenbard North in an 11 a.m. Saturday regional final. The two teams split a pair of games in the DVC and own a spirited rivalry.

“Bring it,” Connolly said. “Put that in the paper.”