Patiently, Maine West edges Leyden

Fans had to wait an extra two days to watch the Class 4A Maine West regional softball semifinal between the host Warriors and No. 8 seed Leyden.

The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday but pushed back due to rain this week.

For those on hand for the rescheduled contest on Friday, it was worth the wait.

The two teams kept things interesting from start to finish before the No. 11 Warriors held on for a 5-4 triumph to advance to Saturday's 11 a.m. championship against No. 2 Oak Park-River Forest, a 10-0 winner over No. 15 Maine East on Thursday.

Sophomore Grace Feldkamp, who led off the game with a home run over the left field fence, also ended the game when she got the final batter on a soft popup which charging shortstop Kayla Pociejewski scooped up before it hit the ground.

"I had no doubt we were going to win," Pociejewski said. "We've had some trouble finishing in the past but I knew we would do it this time. We held together."

The Warriors (15-14) held together with solid defense and clutch hitting, especially from leadoff batter Feldkamp and No. 2 hitter Pociejewski, who were a combined 7-for-8.

"Kayla and Grace are exceptional players," said Warriors coach Mike McGovern. "I've said all season they are five-tool players and they're only going to get better."

Feldkamp (4-for-4) followed up her home with a bunt single, a line-drive single to center and an infield single to short.

Pociejewski (3-for-4, 3 RBI), who has missed the cycle by one hit more once during her career, delivered the three hardest parts on Friday.

She doubled in the second inning, tripled in the fifth and belted a 2-run homer to right center which made it 5-2 in the top of the seventh.

But the Eagles (16-12) wouldn't go away in the bottom of the seventh.

Kat Modrich led off with a single to center. Alicia Solis reached on a fielder's choice as Modrich was forced out at second (Pociejewski to Jordan Hart).

Cat Elliott's line drive single to right gave the Eagles runners on the corners before a walk to catcher Alicia Vermilyer loaded the bases.

Feldkamp got the second out on a fly out to center fielder Alyssa Pegoraro who quickly threw home to junior catcher Nicole Byerly to hold the runner at third.

"Nicole doesn't always get a lot of recognition as a catcher," McGovern said. "But she does a lot of the grunt work for us."

Eagles leadoff batter and sophomore Jodi DuBrock then fouled off four pitches after a 1-2 count before lining a single to left center which brought home 2 runs, cutting the deficit to 5-4.

Pociejewski followed with the game-ending catch.

"It was so nice when Grace hit that homer to start the game," Pociejewski said. "That gave us good momentum right away to start the game."

Feldkamp then took over the mound, allowing just 2 hits (Rachael Morrison and Solis) in the first five innings.

"It starts on the mound," McGovern said. " And Grace had a great day at the plate, just like Kayla. That's our one-two punch."

"My defense helped me a lot and we strung a lot of hits together," Feldkamp said. "Toward the end of the game I was getting a little nervous but I knew we'd pull through."

Pegoraro and right fielder Anne Lipinski each came through with clutch defensive plays.

In the first inning, Lipinski fielded what appeared to be a base hit to right and quickly tossed to first baseman Annemarie Weber for a 9-3 putout.

In the sixth inning, Pegorara fielded what appeared to be a single to the gap but threw to Pociejewski at second base for a force out.

"Those were two outstanding plays by Anne and Alyssa to take away hits," McGovern said. "I've been telling Anne she would get one of those, and she did this game."

Pociejewski got her 10th homer of the season (21st of career) and that proved to be the difference as the Eagles rallied to within 1 run in the seventh.

"Too little, too late, but we did get it going at the end," said Leyden coach Kurt Schuett. "Everyone knows we can hit the ball. But our bats were pretty quiet until late in the game which you can't have in the postseason. You've got to be able to score right off the bat."

The Eagles 7 hits were from seven different players, including junior pitcher Kendall Duwal, who blasted a 2-run homer over the left field fence to make it 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth.

"We didn't quit, we tried our hardest," said senior center fielder Sammi Caputo, who has played on the varsity for four years and will study at Carthage College in Kenosha. "We started our slow but finished strong. I'm really proud of these girls and can't wait to see how far they go next season."

Annemarie Weber (2-for-3, double), Jamie Travis and Allison Pearson also had hits for the Warriors,

"It was a tough game," McGovern said. "Our defense played well. It was tough conditions. The was wet (intermittent rain) and it was windy. You've got to adjust and I thought we did that fairly well."