The Leyden softball team experienced the zany and frustrating side of the playoffs during a Class 4A Niles North Sectional semifinal contest against Lane Tech.
Coming off an upset of second-seeded Young in a regional final, the seventh-seeded Eagles were riding high early in Skokie. Leyden scored six runs in the first inning and appeared bound for a sectional final matchup against defending Class 4A state champion Oak Park-River Forest. The Eagles pounded five hits in the first inning, with freshman Elle Engelke knocking in two runs and sophomore Kailey Kirkwood adding a 2-run double.
Sixth-seeded Lane flipped the script, slowly inching back into the game before taking advantage of some fortuitous events that turned the game around in the fifth inning. Lane scored one run in the first, three in the second, three in the fifth and added another run in the sixth to prevail 8-6, ending Leyden’s season on May 31.
“We had a great first inning, scoring six runs, but we’re better than to do it than go dry for the rest of the game,” Leyden coach Kurt Schuett said.
Kirkwood added: “It was a good inning, and we all hit pretty well, but I think we got too comfortable and didn’t bring our ‘A’ game like we had in the first inning because we had a big lead. We didn’t come out strong again.”
Lane second baseman Katie Gallegos started the rally with solo home run off Leyden starter Emma Bertsche to open the bottom of the fifth, cutting the deficit to 6-5. After an error put a runner on base, Bertsche struck out the next batter, but Lane’s Lexi Pilarczyk smacked a one-hopper off the left-field fence to put runners on second and third. Julia Jozefowicz knotted the game with a sacrifice RBI flyout, but Schuett argued that the Lane runner broke for home before the ball was caught — and that she didn’t step on the plate. When Leyden tried to appeal by throwing the ball to third base, the errant throw allowed the eventual winning run to score.
In the bottom of the sixth, Gallegos drilled her second solo shot for an insurance run. The Eagles never recovered from the dizzying series of events that unfolded, as they were only able to get one runner on base in the final two innings.
Schuett said, given the circumstances, it was a tough way to end the season. Leyden had defeated Lane in last year’s softball playoffs.
“We’re used to coming back, so maybe that put us in a tough mindset,” he said. “I think we got rattled at the end. We had some routine errors. On paper, and nine times out 10, we’re the better team today. We knocked them out of the tournament last year. Young swept them, beat them three times this year and we beat Young, so go figure? On any given day, I guess.”
The Eagles (21-9-1) return the bulk of their starters next season, though Lauren Vermilyer, Madison Ganir, Carly Cullotta and Jodi DuBrock all graduating. Bertsche (16-7) is set to return on the mound, and Kirkwood finished with a batting average hovering around .500.
“In 2012, we had a premier team with Division I prospects on the team,” Schuett said. “For me, it meant a lot because for these kids, a lot of people counted them out and thought we would be a solid team but didn’t expect them to be a team competing for a Sweet 16. I thought that was nice. We definitely don’t have the Division I depth nor talent that we had in 2012, but we have a lot of heart in this group and they worked hard.”
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press
