Softball: Bower, Huntley win rematch over Crystal Lake South
Crystal Lake South took all the drama out of Tuesday's game at Huntley by clinching the Fox Valley Conference championship Saturday, but it didn't stop the two Top 10 teams from going at each other tooth and nail.
While the Gators still left Huntley with the FVC title, sophomore Bri Bower and the Raiders got a litle revenge with a hard-fought 2-1 victory.
Crystal Lake South (28-2, 14-2) defeated Huntley (26-7, 12-3) 4-3 back in April, the key win in its run to their first FVC title since 2007 and first outright championship since 1986.
Bower allowed 6 hits - half of them in the seventh inning - and 1 walk while striking out five.
"I knew I had to have my best stuff after the last time we played them," Bower said. "I knew I had to have my 'A' game. This was a fun game to play because we wanted a rematch."
The hard-hitting Gators came into the game having scored double digit runs in 22 of their 29 games. But Bower quieted them until a two-out rally in the top of the seventh.
"Some good fight at the end," Gators coach Scott Busam said. "When you face Bower we tell the girls if we keep our strikeout total under 10 we'll win. That's been our theory. We didn't win but we were right there at the end."
In the seventh, Maddie Bush reached on an infield single, and Skylar Olsen hit into a fielder's choice.
With two outs, No. 8 hitter Evelyn Smith singled to stay alive, and Kyra Swartz drove in Olsen with a line single to left.
Bower ended the game getting a pop-up to herself that almost turned into disaster for the Red Raiders when first baseman Grace Kutz also tried to catch the pop-up. Both players fell to the ground while Bower held onto the ball for the final out.
"I didn't say anything (calling for the ball)," Bower said. "I should have. Grace was there just in case I dropped it."
"First time in 17 years I've seen a catch and then a player catch the catch," Huntley coach Mark Petryniec said. "We've been struggling on balls in the air all year. Think we have broken our record for dropped pop flies. Very proud of our achievement on balls in the air today."
Christina Toniolo kept the Gators close allowing single runs in the first and third.
Micah Goodrich drew a bases-loaded walk in the first and Kutz singled home a run in the third.
Neither team had a player with multipe hits in the type of well-played game both hope to be playing in deep into the upcoming Class 4A and 3A playoffs.
"That lineup is deadly," Petryniec said. "It's a big hitting lineup. Bri was on her game today. This game was really preparing for the postseon beween two great teams and you saw a great game today. Nothing but hats off to Crystal Lake South and the year they have had."