South Elgin dumps Waubonsie Valley
South Elgin’s softball team made Senior Night a happy one at Judson University Friday night, coming from behind to beat Waubonsie Valley 6-2 in the final Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division game for both teams.
Junior Sam Bolin (15-10) scattered 7 hits with 6 strikeouts and 3 walks and the Storm (19-13, 11-8) played flawless defense behind her.
“It was a great win for us,” said Storm coach Jason Schaal. “We were down 2-0 but we never give up and we never quit.”
Waubonsie Valley (10-19, 7-12) jumped ahead with single runs in the second and third innings. Sophomore Erin Hohman hit a solo home run in the second and sophomore Amanda Minihan tripled in freshman Amanda Lack, who had doubled, to give the Warriors the lead.
But the Storm bounced back in the bottom of the fourth as sophomore Kara Rodriguez singled and junior Sara Irving deposited an Amy Jablonsky pitch deep over the left-center field fence.
South Elgin then grabbed the lead for good in the fifth on a bizarre play. Sophomore Victoria Watt (2-for-3) led off the inning with a double and senior Katelyn Stonecipher singled to right and took second without a play to put runners at second and third. Then, on what was scored as a fielder’s choice off the bat off senior Cara Wolf, Watt was caught in a rundown and called out for running out of the baseline. But the throw got past Waubonsie Valley’s catcher and the speedy Stonecipher scooted home to give the Storm a 3-2 lead.
South Elgin widened the gap with 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth as Waubonsie Valley committed two outfield errors after Irving had driven in freshman Alyssa Buddle, who had singled.
“It was tough playing under the lights,” said Waubonsie Valley coach Aly Kelley. “That was something new to us. We were hitting well, we just didn’t execute when we needed to to bring them in.”
Minihan was 3-for-4 for the Warriors and Stonecipher had 2 hits including a double for South Elgin, which hosts a round robin today that includes Schaumburg and Rockford Boylan.