Dundee-Crown fights back but falls to Prairie Ridge
There was a time not so long ago when the Dundee-Crown softball team would see a 7-0 deficit turn into a slaughter-rule loss.
And even though the Chargers didn't stage a miracle comeback to beat Prairie Ridge on Monday, they did serve notice that they aren't about to roll over anymore, even when they do fall behind.
D-C sophomore Megan Emerson blasted a grand slam home run over the right field fence with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning but it was too little too late for the Chargers in a 7-4 Fox Valley Conference crossover loss in Carpentersville.
"We're never out of a game," Emerson said. "We're always fighting."
Which is what D-C coach Tracy Beatty is seeing from her young team a little more everyday.
"That's one of the biggest changes this team has seen," said Beatty, now in her eighth year at the helm. "They don't give up. They've really worked on staying focused and that's what Megan did."
PR sophomore Hailey Baker, who is committed to Division I Florida Gulf Coast, handcuffed the Chargers (4-2) on 4 hits through five innings and delivered a 2-run double of her own in the Wolves' 5-run sixth.
But the Chargers got to the PR right-hander in the bottom of the inning. With one out freshmen Andrea Conway (2-for-3), Claire Weeks and Deanna Origer (3-for-3) all singled before Emerson belted her bases-clearing home run to give D-C some hope.
"I was just thinking make contact, that my team needs me here," Emerson said. "It was a good pitch and I knew I wanted it."
The Wolves (6-3) jumped ahead 1-0 in the third inning when speedy sophomore Maddie Schillinger beat out a bunt single and then scampered all the way around the bases on a D-C throwing error.
"Fastest kid I've ever coached," said longtime PR coach Mike Buck of Schillinger.
PR then made it a 2-0 game in the fifth when Baker and sophomore Kaleigh O'Brien (3-for-3, RBI) each singled and Baker scored on Michelle O'Keefe's single.
Baker limited Dundee-Crown's chances in the first five innings, allowing only four baserunners, one of which was picked off first.
D-C did get Weeks as far as third with two outs in the fourth but Emerson's hard-hit grounder to short was right at PR's Samantha Chapnick, who fielded it cleanly and threw Emerson out at first.
Senior Rachel Chlopek, who had a great diving catch in right field in the third inning, led off the fifth with a double for the Chargers but Baker struck out the next two hitters and got a grounder back to the circle to leave Chlopek stranded at second.
Baker struck out 8 and didn't walk a batter.
"She did a nice job mixing speeds today," said Buck of Baker. "That was one of her better games. (Emerson) hit a good pitch. And we played solid defense. That's been an issue for us lately."
Freshman Sydney Ruggles took the loss for the Chargers but until the 5-run sixth did a credible job. She went 6 innings, allowing 11 hits (5 in the sixth) with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks.
"I've never had a pitcher here like Sydney," Beatty said. "She's such a competitor. She comes everyday ready to compete for her team and she's only going to get better."