Softball: Elert, Carmel have a blast with fourth-place downstate finish
EAST PEORIA - Dani DeLozier was nothing if honest after the Carmel Catholic softball team found itself on the wrong end of a one-sided game for a second straight day at Eastside Centre on Saturday morning.
"We were honored to play against the best teams in the state," the Corsairs senior said after Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin slugger Ashton Dyche clouted her second home run of the schools' Class 3A third-place game to prematurely end the Carmel season in less than five innings.
"I had a blast. All I have left for this season was I couldn't have wanted it with any other group of seniors."
The Corsairs' season ended at 26-13 after the 14-4 loss in their first appearance in the Final Four.
Amanda Elert provided Carmel with two lasting memories in her final game for the school.
The Libertyville resident capped an astonishing offensive season with two swings of the bat.
Elert gave Carmel its only lead of the game with a lined-shot home run after Jen Giesey and DeLozier started the third-run uprising with back-to-back two-out singles.
"That one was much needed after the rough first game," Elert said. "I saw an off-speed pitch and kept my hands back."
Unfortunately for the Corsairs, the 3-2 lead would be short-lived.
In its half of the inning, Springfield (34-6) left-hander Renee Abernathy pulled a towering 2-run homer down the right-field line to initiate another big inning against Carmel.
One day after Montini took control with a 7-run outburst against the Corsairs in the semifinals, the Cyclones exploded for 8 runs to take a commanding 10-3 lead.
"Dink hits here, dink hits there," Carmel coach Shane Schueneman said of the Cyclones' big inning. "That's what happens in this game. It's a momentum game."
But Elert would make the most of her final at-bat in a Carmel uniform.
Leading off the top of the fifth inning, Elert roped a ball just inside the left-field foul pole to cap one of the greatest offensive seasons in county softball circles.
Elert finished with 18 home runs among her 33 extra-base hits on the season; the future Wisconsin student increased her program-record RBI in a season to 76.
"I think (the RBI total) has to stand among the best (in single-season state history)," Schueneman said. "(The fellow seniors) have got so many school records. We're going to lose a lot of power."
"I just hope we go down as one of the best Carmel softball teams ever," Elert said.
With Carmel hoping to at least finish out the seven-inning contest, Springfield terminated the game when Dyche, who opened the scoring with a 2-run first-inning home run, capped another 4-run Cyclone rally with a one-out solo home run.
Annie Poll, Erin Warzecha, Taylor Ganan, Emma Bartz, Claire Petrius, Elert and DeLozier, who will attempt to walk-on at Bowling Green State University in Kentucky, played their finale for Carmel.
"I just learned from these seniors this year," said Lauren Caffarelli. "We were like a family."
In the championship game, Montini scored 4 unearned runs in the sixth inning to deny Washington a second straight title.
With the 4-1 victory Montini ended the season with 26 consecutive wins while ending the Panthers' 32-game winning streak.