Sycamore comeback sinks St. Viator
DeKALB - After 3 insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth gave St. Viator a 4-run lead, the Lions let the game slip away in the seventh as Sycamore put up 6 runs in the final inning for a 9-7 victory in the semifinals of the Class 3A DeKalb softball sectional on Wednesday.
The Spartans' first six batters reached base in the top of the seventh before a sacrifice fly from left fielder Emily Schramer tied the game at 7-7.
The next batter, first baseman Haley Salazar, doubled to give Sycamore an 8-7 lead and Katie Jones singled in the Spartans' final run.
St. Viator (20-18) coach Daniel Twarog said he thought his team may have gotten ahead of itself with a lead late in the game.
"I think we got a little over-exuberant on our lead and we lost our focus in that last inning," he said. "That's why they play 7 innings."
The Lions were unable to respond in the bottom of the seventh, ending their season.
Sycamore advances to play the winner of Thursday's DeKalb sectional semifinal game between Yorkville and Geneso for the sectional title at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Spartans (21-15) came out with something to prove in the seventh inning after St. Viator scored 2 runs on a dropped third strike in the sixth.
After Amanda Presslak came home on a double steal with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Torey Lenart swung and missed at strike three for the potential third out of the inning.
But as the Spartans began leaving the field, Torey Lenart, along with Tayler Lenart, who was on second, began rounding the bases. The umpire ruled that the third strike had hit the ground, and the Lions were awarded the 2 extra runs.
Sycamore coach Jill Carpenter said it fired up her team and calmed them down at the same time.
"Throughout this entire season we've been preaching nothing to lose, everything to gain," she said. "When you go down 7-3, and you're down to your final three outs, you kind of take a 'let's see what happens' type of mentality."
St. Viator starter Julie Sweeney was pulled after allowing the first three runners and was replaced Melanie Slawny, who took the loss.
"This was our best season ever," Twarog said of a season in which the Lions won their first regional championship. "We just had one bad inning and it happened to be the last one."
Nekoda Garbes (8-3) picked up the victory for Sycamore after replacing starter Abby Foulk in the third inning. Foulk left with an abdominal injury.
The Spartans opened the scoring with a 3-run homer from Rachel Lesorgen in the fourth, but the Lions responded with 4 runs in the bottom of the fourth, capped off by an RBI-single from Tayler Lenart to put St. Viator ahead 4-3.