PLAINFIELD -- Errors by Plainfield Central High School middle infielders Stephanie Kirkpatrick and Taylor Tooley occur about as often as an eclipse of the sun which rarely appeared Friday, with the top of the fifth inning being the exception rather than the rule.
But then Kirkpatrick, the University of Michigan-bound senior shortstop, launched her 2-run homer to left in the bottom of the fifth and Tooley, the sure-handed junior second baseman, tripled to lead off the sixth -- showing exactly from where the Wildcats would erase their error-filled 4-0 deficit.
At the plate.
"It was a good-hitting team against another good-hitting team," said Tooley, who scored the game-winning run after her three-bagger for a 6-5 nonconference softball victory over visiting Lincoln-Way Central. "And it's the worst feeling to make an error, so to come back right away was really good."
Really resilient captured the pendulum swing between Plainfield Central (11-1) and Lincoln-Way Central (9-3), two of the Chicagoland area's top-ranked teams. A 2-RBI double by senior pitcher/second baseman Gabe Gavoni (3-for-4), the Illinois recruit, ignited the Knights during a 4-run fifth.
At that point, the right-handed Gavoni (4-0) actually carried a 4-inning perfect game for Lincoln-Way Central -- playing without senior outfielder Courtney Dunker (mononucleosis) and senior first baseman Rachel Larson (basketball exposure tournament). Again, though, an error entered into the mix.
Senior first baseman Julia Fink reached to lead off the bottom of the fifth via an infield miscue, and with the Wildcats within 4-3, Kirkpatrick came up with senior pitcher Brittany Adcox on third base and freshman outfielder Krista Fiorini on deck. And "KP" peeled her potatoes from a familiar place.
In the batter's box.
"That was definitely my mindset," said Kirkpatrick, who hit her second homer this spring, both at the Wildcats' cavernous home park. "When I made that error, I knew I had to come back because Brittany was pitching a great game for us. So I wanted to come back there, pick up the team and make up for it with a good hit."
"They can't let those mistakes bother them, and I don't think they did," Plainfield coach Anne Campbell said. "Obviously, you have to be concerned when you go down four runs, but Stephanie and Taylor really wanted to redeem themselves, they wanted to help the team, and that's just what they did."
From that 5-4 deficit, Lincoln-Way Central rallied for a 5-5 tie in the top of the sixth when senior shortstop Cassie
Redman doubled in junior outfielder/reliever Jackie Dugan, who began the inning with a bloop single to shallow right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior second baseman/outfielder Amanda Rafferty.
Following Gavoni's 6-strikeout, 4-hit effort that featured the dustup of a 5-run fifth, Dugan (5-3) took over in the sixth and struck out the final three Wildcat batters. However, Tooley's leadoff triple and a wild pitch put Plainfield ahead 6-5, and junior center fielder Kali Pasternak's grab of Gavoni's sinking liner started the seventh.
"Give Plainfield a lot of credit," Lincoln-Way Central coach Dick Mandella said. "A lot of teams would have folded up the tent when we got those four runs, and I give our kids a lot of credit, too. Once they went up 5-4, we could have easily felt sorry for ourselves because we didn't have a couple of kids here, but we came back and did what we're supposed to do."
"That's our team effort," Redman said. "Basically, we never want to quit, we never want to roll over, and we had to keep pushing until the end. They pushed a littler harder today at the end, I guess, but this is only going to make us stronger. They're a great team and that was a great game."
With two outs in the fifth, Kirkpatrick's homer highlighted a great comeback. Fink and Pasternak, who dropped in a single, scored on a triple by junior third baseman Nancy Carrington that one-hopped off the yellow shielding of the fence in left-center. Adcox's triple to the center-field fence sliced the deficit to 4-3, and ...
At the fork in the road.
"Yes, yes," Mandella said about whether the walking of Kirkpatrick was discussed. "I went up to (assistant coach) Mary (Bedinger) and asked what the 'two' hitter had done for them, and that was my first thought -- to intentionally walk her. I didn't do it, so that was a goof on my part, and if I had to do it over, yes, I would do it."
"I was happy," Kirkpatrick said. "I was very happy that they pitched to me. A lot of times, I've been walked in that situation, but I was definitely up there to hit it as hard as I could. All of my focus was to hit the ball as far as I could and that was my determination."
As determined as a marathon runner nearing the finish line, Lincoln-Way Central claimed the 4-0 lead and closed with 8 hits and a walk off Adcox (6-1), who struck out 4 in going the distance. The Knights, who stranded 7, used errors by Kirkpatrick and Tooley for the 4 unearned runs in the fifth.
While Gavoni's rocket double to right-center became the third of her three consecutive hits, sophomore third baseman Gina Brown responded to a walk to senior catcher Brittnie Boerema with a line-drive RBI single to right. Boerema also singled with one out in the top of the seventh.
"Any time you go down 4-0 to Lincoln-Way Central, you know, automatically you have to think of the consequences," Campbell said. "But you have to believe in your kids, you have to give them the confidence to come out of it, and I know I believed in them."
"They're a great team," said Gavoni, who cruised through the first 4 innings with 4 strikeouts and 8 groundouts. "Some of my pitches hung up there in the fifth and they jumped on it, and there's nothing you can do about that."
Nothing could deter Plainfield after Tooley, who tripled to lead off the seventh and went 2-for-3 during Wednesday's 3-2 loss to Sandburg, kicked off the sixth with her triple to right-center. Mandella related that "she laced a high pitch," and when Tooley scored on a rise that rose too far, the Wildcats were steering clear.
In the driver's seat.
"If we didn't come back in the fifth, I think our heads would have stayed down and we might not have been able to come back," Tooley said. "But it's a big win, especially after losing to Sandburg, and we came out strong. Even though we made a couple of errors, they also had some big hits, and we proved what we needed to do was stay strong to come back."
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