Softball: Rolling Meadows wins wild one over Prospect
Sara Benner summed it up well.
"Lot of ups and downs, a pretty eventful game," said Rolling Meadows' all-time leading homer run hitter who added one on Saturday for a total of 31.
Her Mustangs were fortunate to be the team that ended with the final 'up'.
They scored 4 runs in the top of the eighth inning and senior Elise Kowalski wrapped it up facing four batters in the scoreless bottom of the inning to give Meadows a wild 19-15 win at Prospect on Saturday.
"Today was crazy," said RM shortstop Sam Allen, who went 3-for-5 with 4 RBI. "There were a lot of things that should have gone better but we kept our hitting and intensity up the whole game.
"The only time I remember something like this was last year when we lost 22-20 at home to Taft."
Meadows moved to 9-6 and 2-3 in the Mid-Suburban East while Prospect stands at 5-7 and 2-2.
The Knights, who led 4-0 after one inning, made a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the seventh from a 15-10 deficit.
They scored 4 of their 5 runs with two outs. Freshman catcher Kathryn Kheen's bloop single to left tied the game at 15-15.
But Meadows answered with 4 runs in the top of the eighth, also after two were out.
Emily Schmidt (4-for-5) started the decisive rally with a two-out double to left-center field and Caroline Slowik ended it with an RBI single to center that made it 19-15.
"To come back with those four runs after they scored five was a good job by our kids," said Mustangs coach Tony Wolanski. "We never quit but they didn't either. We have to do a better job playing defense but we did an excellent job hitting."
Other top hitters in the 16-hit offense were Benner (3-for-6, 5 RBI), Stephanie Thompson (2-for-4, 2 RBI), and Sammy Elenz (3-for-5, 3 RBI), who walloped her first career homer (over the center field fence) and tripled (right-center).
"We made too many mistakes defensively but fortunately the kids were resilient and they came back with the bats," Wolanski said. "Elise (Kowalski) battled and a lot of that wasn't her fault. She wanted to stay out there all eight innings. She earned that right and she did a good job."
Prospect did a good job at the plate, too, and no one was more efficient than leadoff batter Cassie Cunniff.
The senior second baseman went 4-for-4 with 2 triples, 2 doubles, 2 walks and 4 RBI.
"Cassie had a day," said Prospect coach Krystina Leazer, who went with Claire Doherty and Emalee Depa on the mound. "She was huge. She and KK (Keehn who was 3-for-5 with 4 RBI and a double) were a one-two punch and pretty clutch for us today."
Other multiple hitters for the Knights were Madeline Borkowski (3-for-6, 2 2B), Katie Annen (2-for-6) and Anna Linneman (2-for-6).
"We had that great inning (bottom of the seventh)," Leazer said. "Unfortunately, we dug ourselves a little too deep a hole in that next inning. You've got to hand it to both teams. A lot of girls were hitting under pressure and came through.
"It hurts. When you score 15 runs you should win. But I'm so proud of how they came back in the bottom of the seventh."