Softball: Geneva rallies by Burlington Central
Down to its last out Monday, Geneva's never-say-die approach paid dividends in a nonconference matchup of Top 20 teams with Burlington Central.
The Vikings trailed Rockets ace Emily Kisch 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh. Kisch retired the first two batters.
Leadoff hitter Katie Keller started the rally with a single up the middle, and Katie Geary did the same. Annika Radabaugh made it a 3-2 game with a run-scoring single, and when the Rockets couldn't come up with Molly Wrenn's grounder to first, Geary scored the tying run.
Keller again was in the middle of the game-winning rally in the ninth inning with a leadoff single, and one batter later she scored on Radabaugh's single to left field for a 4-3, come-from-behind win.
"That's not a good spot to be in down two runs, two outs and nobody on and facing a real good pitcher," Geneva coach Greg Dierks said. "But we had good at-bats. I thought all our girls' at-bats got better as the game went on. We had a good approach up there in the last inning and we were fortunate to get the extra time."
Burlington Central (15-4) scored twice in the second inning against Vikings starter Alissa Dierks and played with the lead from there. Gretchen Schrubbe walked, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Danielle Yurgil's single to right. Madison Leone made it 2-0 with a run-scoring single.
Geneva (14-6) got a run back in its half of the second on doubles by Rachel Fanella and Dierks, and Megan White's groundout to short.
Kristina Ahlers lined a solo home run to right in the third for a 3-1 lead, her fifth of the year. She also doubled in the fifth inning before the Vikings walked her in the seventh and ninth.
"She puts so much pressure on herself," Rockets coach Erica Maisto said. "I tell her to relax, trust your hands, they will do the job. I feel she's only getting better as the season is going which I love."
The game stayed 3-1 until Geneva's rally in the seventh. Kisch finished with 10 strikeouts; Dierks improved to 7-3 scattering 8 hits with 6 strikeouts.
"At times I thought she was pretty sharp," Greg Dierks said. "There were other innings she was struggling and had to work hard to get through the innings but hung in there. Our defense played well."
After the Rockets stranded two in the top of the ninth, Radabaugh won it in the bottom half - her second straight clutch hit after starting the game 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts.
"She had a rough first two and the third one wasn't a whole lot better," Greg Dierks said. "She ends it with a nice hit. Everyone should learn from that. You can't hang your head after your first couple at-bats."
Keller also struck out her first at-bat before reaching base her final 4 times with a walk and 3 singles.
"I said I'm going to get that outside pitch next time," Keller said. "It's not my favorite pitch but I looked for that and made an adjustment on that."
Ahlers reached based 4 times and Jill Neisendorf singled twice for the Rockets. Radabaugh, Dierks and White all had 2 hits for Geneva.
"We were so close," Maisto said. "Those little errors sometimes kill us. Emily couldn't have pitched a better game. We have to keep working on fundamentals."