Softball: Carmel's on task in sectional victory over Antioch

Carmel Catholic's softball team needed two outs. So freshman Sydney Schuda figured it was time to make a prediction.

And then with one swing, the Corsairs got both of those outs. Which, considering their knack for turning double plays, shouldn't have surprised anyone.

And when shortstop Jen Giesey grabbed Ashley Stephens' soft liner up the middle and threw to first to double off the runner, Carmel got more than just a 6-4 win over second-seeded Antioch in Monday's Class 3A Wauconda sectional final. The Corsairs got laughs, too.

From her spot in the dugout, Schuda called the DP just before it happened. Call it a veteran move by the varsity rookie.

Best of all for No. 4 Carmel, the Corsairs (25-11) got what they wanted most of all: their first sectional championship since 2007 and a berth in Tuesday's Hampshire supersectional against Sterling.

The sectional final had been suspended Saturday in the top of the second inning due to rain, with Carmel leading 2-0.

"We've been trying to play this game for a while," Carmel left fielder Emma Bartz said after her 3 RBI game, which included a 2-run single Saturday. "We had Sunday off. Today, we wanted to get the game in so bad."

When things resumed under sunny skies Monday, Carmel quickly added 3 more runs. Amanda Elert singled in her 70th run of the season, pitcher Claire Petrus reached on an error to plate another run, and Bartz lined an RBI single for a 5-0 lead heading into Antioch's half of the second.

"We came out and jumped on them in that first inning today, and those 3 runs were big," Carmel coach Shane Schueneman said. "It put them down a little bit and got the momentum going our way. (Antioch) got it back a little, though. That's a good team over there."

Jill Foote's two-out single in the third was Antioch's first hit against Petrus and scored her little sister Piper, who had walked. Jill then slid home safely on a wild pitch. But Elert's 71st RBI (Jenny Behan had a school-record 63 last year), on an infield single, made it 6-2 in the fourth.

Antioch kept chipping away at its deficit, while reliever Hannah Cook (4 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit) silenced Carmel's bats. In the bottom of the fifth, Stephens' RBI groundout and Foote's second run-scoring single in as many at-bats pulled the Sequoits within 6-4.

"Coming back today, after Saturday," Antioch coach Anthony Rocco said, "we told the girls right off the bat, 'Our goal is to win innings and drive up the pitch count, because if we can get into an extended game, (Carmel) doesn't really have a No. 2 (pitcher) like we do.' "

Piper Foote singled with one out in the seventh. But the 6-3 double play, Carmel's 20th of the season, ended it, allowing the Corsairs to flip their gloves high and celebrate in the infield.

"I just didn't want her to throw it away," Schueneman, whose Corsairs also have a triple play this season, said with a smile of Giesey. "Let's get out of here before something bad happens."

"My first move was up the middle," Giesey said. "I guess I got a good jump on it. I was just anxious to get it."

Dani DeLozier (2-for-3) and freshman Jordan Swiatkowski had doubles for Carmel.

Jackalyn Geraty's double accounted for the only extra-base hit for Antioch (27-12), which did not have any seniors on its roster this year.

"I think we're all motivated to go to state next year," said Jill Foote, who was 2-for-2 with a walk. "We're going to work our butts off in the off-season. We'll come back and hopefully we'll get there."

"Next year is our year," Rocco said. "We come back 100 percent - maybe 120 percent - stronger because we got everyone coming back, and we got a lot of talent on the lower levels coming up."