Softball: Genoa-Kingston drubs St. Edward in regional final
By Scott Miller For Sun-Times Media May 19, 2012 5:03PM
Updated: July 1, 2012 11:54AM
Genoa-Kingston hadn’t won a regional title since 2008, and the wait seemed especially long this past year after the Cogs went 26-2 last season only to be defeated in the regional finals.
That all seems like ancient history now after the host Cogs defeated visiting St Edward 10-1 in the Class 2A Genoa-Kingston Regional finals on Saturday.
The Cogs (19-12) will host North Boone in the sectional semifinals next Wednesday.
“It’s sure nice to finally get another one,” said G-K coach Mike Lauer, who led the Cogs to three straight regional titles between 2006-08. “Especially after some close calls the past few years.
“We have had a lot of would haves, should haves, and could haves. Last year was obviously very tough, so I’m real happy right now for the kids who were on the team last year and had to go through that disappointment and to be able to get another chance and have it work out.”
For the second straight game St Edward starting pitcher Morgan Coughlin was called for several illegal pitches, but unlike in Wednesday’s regional semi-finals when she was able to work through it, this time around it got the best of her. The Cogs scored a run in the first and then added four more in the second to jump out to a 5-0 lead.
Coughlin departed with one in the second inning after allowing a two-run triple to the G-K’s Natalie Klein and then throwing another illegal pitch to allow Klein to score from third to make the score 4-0.
“It’s been very frustrating because she has only been called for a couple illegal pitches all year,” said St Edward coach Jaci Corn. “So it really threw her off. Then on top of that we didn’t play very good defense and runs were hard to come by. Things definitely didn’t go our way.”
G-K added two more runs in the third inning with back-to-back triples from Emily Wakely and Tori Hensley followed up by an RBI single by Rachel Joos. The Cogs added a run in the fourth and two in the fifth.
G-K starting pitcher Danielle Engel went five innings to pick up the win. The one run she allowed in the fourth inning was unearned. She only surrendered one hit while striking out four.
“I was freaking out at the beginning of the game because I was so nervous,” said Engel. “But it’s awesome when we get some runs early. It allows me to settle down and get more relaxed. I’m just proud of the way our team has been able to pull through this season and get this far.”
Engel helped herself out at the plate by belting her third inside-the-park home run in the past week. The solo drive led off the fifth inning. Hensley went 4-for-4. Baily Ullmark came on to pitch the final two scoreless innings of relief for the Cogs.
St Edward finished the season 10-20. Kali Kossakowski had a single and scored the Wave’s only run.
