Softball: St. Edward advances to regional final
By Scott Miller For Sun-Times Media May 16, 2012 8:56PM
Updated: June 29, 2012 9:26AM
Keep making good contact at the plate and eventually good things are bound to happen.
That was the case for St. Edward on Wednesday at the Class 1A Genoa-Kingston Regional semifinals. The Green Wave belted out 10 hits, but also took advantage of five errors by Regina Dominican to win 8-3 and advance to the title game against the host and top-seeded Cogs at 11 a.m. Saturday. Morgin Coughlin scattered six hits to earn the win.
“It was a good game,” said St. Edward coach Jaci Corn. “Morgin hit her spots and was mentally tough. I thought our offense brought it the whole game. We tightened up the zone at the plate and were very selective. We did a good job of being aggressive on the good stuff and laid off the bad stuff. I couldn’t have asked more.”
After coming up empty in the first two innings despite some hard-hit balls, the Green Wave struck first with a pair of runs in the third inning. Jasmine Deleon ripped a two-run single that scored Coughlin and Kali Kossakowski. However, St. Edward gave the two runs right back in the top of the fourth inning with three errors, allowing Regina Dominican to tie the game.
St. Edward (10-19) finally broke through for good with a five-run fourth inning to go up 7-2. The wheels came off for Regina Dominican as it committed four errors in the inning. Kossakowski delivered the big blow with an opposite-field RBI triple to the right-field corner. She later scored. Ryann Scully had a double and scored in the rally.
That was more than enough for Coughlin, who went the distance and was not charged with an earned run. She managed to work around the 11 illegal pitches that were called against her.
“I just didn’t let it affect me,” said Coughlin. “I just kept pitching the same way I have always pitched. It was really a great group effort by everyone. We all made sure there wasn’t a single eye closed on the bus on the way here to make sure we came out 100 percent ready to play.”
St. Edward gets a second chance at G-K, a team that beat it 13-0 early in the season.
“We actually hit the ball really well that game,” said Corn. “But the errors really got us. We’ve been working hard all year to tighten up our defense. I think we have come a long ways since the first time we played them. But we’re going to have to come ready mentally and physically to play all three parts of the game.”
After an 0-12 start to the season, Regina Dominican finished 11-20.
“We have really improved a lot from the start of the year,” said Regina Dominican coach Jim Goranson.”But we are still a very young team with just one senior and two juniors. I think we showed our inexperience today and lost a little focus and got a little anxious.”
Grace Spiewak went 3-for-3 for Regina Dominican.
