Deciding which of Downers South’s two softball victories Saturday was more exciting would be about as difficult as trying to buy a hit off of pitcher Amy Krahula.
Krahula pitched a one-hitter in the second game of a double-header for the No. 1 Mustangs, notching her 10th consecutive shutout and running her scoreless streak to 79 innings.
West Chicago and Downers South entered the seventh inning of Game 2 scoreless. . With extra innings looming, the Mustangs’ bats finally came around in support of Krahula, scoring six runs.
“Both teams battled really well,” Downers coach Ron Havelka said. “In the second game, it was to see which team could outlast the other.”
The Mustangs finally closed out a 6-0 victory, putting an end to an almost unbearably long day.
The first game went 15 innings before Tina Koludrovic, who went 6 for 11 on the day, singled in the game-winning run for a 3-2 victory.
“It seemed like we played three or four games and not just a double-header,” Havelka said.
“West Chicago’s always a pretty tough team, but we didn’t know it was going to be this long of a day.”
Lockport 7, Reavis 0: Shannon Lindgren struck out 10 and Amy Ligmanowski went 2 for 4 with two RBIs to lead No. 7 Lockport (22-10).
Benet 5-7, Carmel 4-3: In the East Suburban Catholic double-header, Erin Ward’s double scored Janet Urban with the winning run as the Redwings (19-12, 7-2) rallied from 4-1 deficit in Game 1. Urban was 3 for 4 and scored two runs in Game 2 as Benet completed the sweep.
Geneva 4-4, DeKalb 2-0: In Game 2, senior Shannon Pedersen tossed her third no-hitter of the season for Geneva (24-6). She struck out eight while improving to 13-3, and came one walk shy of notching a perfect game.
“This has become a typical performance for her the second half of the season,” Geneva coach Greg Dierks said. “Her ERA is dipping under 1.00 at this point and she’s in top form heading into the postseason.”
Glenbard South 2-1, Ottawa 0-0: Alexis Tomaras and Ashley Condon each tossed shutouts as the Raiders (24-8) swept.
Joliet Catholic 4-3, Lemont 2-0: Kristin Olson went 4 for 4 with a double in the first game for Joliet Catholic (22-11) and Jessica Nahorski threw a one-hitter for the Game 2 victory.
Larkin 2-4, Wheaton North 0-1: Tami Potter and Erin Kieser combined to give up only eight hits on the day for Larkin (27-4). In the first game, Kieser also went 3 for 4.
Nazareth 12-7, IHM 8-0: Mandy Lindwall and Emily Hajduk each went 6 for 9 on the day for Nazareth (17-12) and combined for three doubles, eight runs and nine RBIs.
Oak Forest 10-8, Bolingbrook 0-7: Becky Zarr went 4 for 6 on the day for Oak Forest (15-14) with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored.
Stevenson 7, Antioch 0: Stevenson (23-6, 12-2) clinched a co-conference championship in the North Suburban behind Elissa Wisniewski’s two-hit, 13-strikeout performance.
Warren 5-7, Glenbrook North 4-1: Tracey Michel knocked in the game-winning run in the top of the 11th for Warren (16-12) in the first game. Lisa Wooster drove in a pair with two outs in the fifth to tie the game, and Pam Schimanski, who threw all 11 innings, went 3 for 6.
Class A Regional Semifinals
Driscoll: After defeating St. Scholastica 16-1 in five innings early Saturday morning to advance to the semifinals, Westmont (30-2) handed Ridgewood (22-11) a 4-1 loss. Back-to-back RBI-triples in the first by Theresa Dunn and Heather Chorny gave winning pitcher Liz Spokas all the support she needed . . . Jenny Willig tossed a three-hitter and both Nicole Pitello and Julie Bobak had two hits and a run scored as Montini (22-5) notched a 4-1 win over Immaculate Conception (20-10).
Illiana Christian: Trailing 3-0 going into the top of the seventh, St. Francis de Sales pulled out a come-from-behind 7-3 victory over Evergreen Park. Jenny Durham’s one-out, pinch-hit double scored two runs and tied the game at 3-3. Durham came around with the winning run one batter later on a throwing error…. Debbie DeGraff fanned eight and scattered three hits as Illiana Christian shut down Chicago Christian 2-0.
Momence: Jenny Dinelli fired a three-hitter and struck out 10 to pace Gardner-South Wilmington (28-1) in a 5-1 victory over Peotone…. Nancy Findeisen, who struck out 15 for the win, scored on an error in the sixth to give Beecher (23-8) a 2-1 win over Dwight (29-3).
Baseball
Providence 20, Lockport 1: No. 1 Providence (28-2) sent 18 batters to the plate in a 13-run fourth inning. Pat Flynn went 3 for 4 with a homer, two doubles and seven RBIs, and Justin Melendez had two hits, four RBIs and three runs in the five-inning rout.
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“I’ve been hearing that the SICA West was the best in the state,” Providence coach Joe Rodeghero said of the conference No. 6 Lockport (23-10) hails from. “But we think we’re in a pretty solid conference ourselves. Today we wanted to make a statement that the Catholic league can play a little bit as well.”
Mundelein 10, Glenbard West 0: Brian Lueders tossed a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts as the No. 3 Mustangs (29-4) rolled. Josh Lieberman was 2 for 4 with two RBIs to lead the Mundelein offense.
De La Salle 7, Rockford East 1: Mike Munoz struck out 11 over six innings and both Frank Brown and Eric Keefner went 2 for 3 to lead the No. 5 Meteors (26-5).
Rolling Meadows 7, Fremd 1: Charlie Hahn threw a three-hitter and fanned seven as No. 10 Rolling Meadows (24-5) downed Fremd (22-9) for the Mid-Suburban championship.
Antioch 13, Stevenson 0: No. 8 Antioch (25-6, 10-4) rolled in the North Suburban in five innings behind Jason Schuller and Brandon Clutts, who combined for five hits and five RBIs.
Joliet 5, Reavis 4: Mark Novak came one out shy of a no-hitter for Joliet. With two outs in the top of the seventh, he surrendered two hits and his only earned run of the game. His performance on the mound overcame Joliet’s seven errors, and Mike Anderson bailed the Steelmen (18-9) out in the bottom of the seventh with a game-winning, bases-loaded single.
“He had been pitching so well,” Joliet coach Tony Juarez said of Novak. “His pitch count was down and it would have been really down if we had been able to pick up the ball. It was a credit to him that he kept his composure and didn’t let the defense get him down.”
Benet 9, Marist 5: Ken Biggiano and Tom Bremner each had three hits and an RBI to lift Benet (18-12, 12-5) in the East Suburban Catholic.
Bradley 6, Bremen 0: Evan Perkins fired a one-hitter with seven strikeouts as the Boilermakers (17-11) cruised. Josh Perkins added a home run and Greg Ward contributed two RBIs for Bradley.
Crete-Monee 5, Thornwood 3: Joe Veldhuizen’s two-run home run led the Warriors (17-13). Hersey 5, Libertyville 4: Joe Peterson was 3 for 4 and drove in the winning run for the Huskies (17-13).
Lincoln-Way 8, Oak Forest 1: Brad Rostren went 3 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs and Scott Gardner scored three runs to lead the Knights.
Maine West 6, Highland Park 1: Matt Schroeder was 2 for 3 with two runs and two stolen bases for the Warriors (19-11, 10-6) in the Central Suburban North. Steve Novickas struck out seven to earn the victory. Morton 6, Downers South 0: Morton (20-14, 13-6) clinched the West Suburban Gold title behind Carlos Campos, who went 2 for 4 with two doubles and four RBIs.
Nazareth 4, Fenwick 2: Mike Barnicle went 2 for 3 and drove in two runs as the Roadrunners (21-8) won the non-conference game.
Richards 19-12, Rich South 9-2: Rick Ruszkowski went 5 for 8 on the day for Richards (21-11) with four doubles and seven RBIs. In Game 1 alone, Erik Lis was 4 for 5 with four runs scored.
Class A Regional Semifinals
Driscoll: Rich Gasparri drove in two runs on a pinch-hit double and sophomore Tim Sierak hit his first home run of the year as Driscoll (29-5) used a four-run sixth (29-5) to top Immaculate Conception 5-2.
Sophomore Bo Flowers struck out 13 on a two-hitter and came around after hitting a triple to score Walther Lutheran’s lone run in a 1-0 victory over Ridgewood (29-7).
“Bo just wasn’t going to be denied,” Walther Lutheran coach Don Gillingham said. “He’s so feisty and fiery. He was all business on that mound.”
Westmont: Winning pitcher Chris Greiner hit a home run and Joe Howard and Charlie Porter both went 2 for 4 as Montini (25-5-1) downed Westmont 7-2…. Leading 7-0 going into the bottom of the sixth, Evergreen Park (19-12) surrendered six runs to St. Francis de Sales (12-22). Brett Priestman got the final out of the inning, and completed the game for the save and an 8-6 Evergreen Park victory.