ELGIN -- A senior day win was all but complete for the Elgin softball team as it hosted Elgin School District U46 rival Streamwood on Monday.
Ahead by a run heading into the top of the seventh inning, the Maroons had Streamwood down to its last out after starting pitcher Kelly Patchett retired the first two batters of the inning.
But Elgin couldn't get the last out it needed as the Sabres rallied for two runs on their way to a 5-4 Upstate Eight Conference win.
Streamwood cleanup hitter Melissa Abraham got things going with a single to center and senior Barb Posinger followed with another hit, giving the Sabres runners at first and second.
And before junior Arielle Gallione even stepped into the batters' box with two outs and two on, her coach called a timeout to give Gallione and the baserunners a little chat.
"I just brought them over and told them this was their game and their opportunity and said we need to win this," Sabres coach Lindsay Mulay said. "Sometimes when they're relaxed and they have a few laughs in them, they're calm and ready to hit."
Gallione responded with a two-run double to the gap in left-center to give the Sabres (9-22, 7-10) a 5-4 lead.
"Coach helped us with that speech and I was just looking for a good one to hit," Gallione said.
The Maroons (3-18, 3-11) looked poised to take back their lead in the bottom half but came up empty.
April Harwood led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, but the next two batters were each called out at first on bang-bang plays. With the tying run at third, Sabres starting pitcher Posinger struck out the final batter to complete the dramatic comeback.
"To end like that is kind of tough, especially against Streamwood," Elgin assistant coach Mark Perryman said. "But this is one of the best games we've played all year. Patchett pitched a great game though; just one pitch in the top of the seventh where it wasn't supposed to be."
Posinger (7-18) earned the complete-game win for Streamwood, and Patchett (2-15) also pitched all seven innings for the Maroons in the loss.
The two teams were neck-and-neck for the first five innings thanks to some great defensive play on both sides.
Maroons shortstop Brandi Hernandez was flawless with seven putouts and senior left-fielder Alex Blanchette gunned down a runner at the plate in the first inning.
On the other side, Streamwood catcher Adrienne Pisano stopped Elgin from having two potential big innings by picking off two runners at third base.
"She's got a gun and it's great to see," Mulay said. "She is definitely a leader of this team."
Elgin broke a 3-all tie in the bottom of the sixth when Jenna Jaynes hit an RBI flyout to right, giving her team a temporary lead at 4-3.
"We got good timely hitting to get us the lead there in the sixth but we just couldn't hold it," Perryman said.
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