Wildcats run past expectations

Plainfield Central finishes with 20-plus win season

Like Cinderella at the evening ball, the clock has struck midnight for Plainfield Central girls softball coach Anne Campbell and her Wildcats team in this year's playoffs.

The Wildcats, seeded seventh in the Neuqua Valley Sectional, lost 2-1 to top-seeded Lockport in the Class 4A Lockport Regional championship May 29.

Lockport second baseman Kayleigh Bertram singled home the winning run in the fourth inning after Plainfield Central had fought back to tie the game in the second inning.

On the heels of her 11-strikeout performance against Plainfield North the day before, Wildcats pitcher Cara DeLange (14-5) knew not many people gave them a chance against Lockport.

But for DeLange and the rest of her Wildcats teammates, they have been proving all season that they were better than what most expected.

"When we first came out here people thought that we might not be that good because we lost a lot of seniors, but we wanted to come out here and show them that we are still good," DeLange said. "When people say that we're not going to be that good, of course that motivated us."

Although it is sometimes hard to find positives in a loss, Campbell was proud of her team's accomplishments and knows that the future is bright for her Wildcats softball program.

"I knew that we had some talent with the young kids coming up and the seniors coming back," Campbell said. "They had a great year. They overachieved on a lot of people's expectations. The seniors have had a great career and we have a lot of young kids. They'll be back next year.

"Cara will be back, our pitching staff is back and we'll replace the seniors and just keep doing it again."

Lockport (28-6) got things going right away in the first inning against DeLange. Porters leadoff hitter Morgan Kramerich walked and later went to third on a groundout to third baseman Nancy Carrington as no one from the Wildcats remembered to cover the base.

"In the end we only started three seniors, so you hope that they got some good experience today," Campbell said. "They (Lockport) just played a great game. We were the seventh seed and we weren't supposed to be here and the pressure was on them to beat us."

Lockport's Sam Stanicek then hit a knuckler in the air that Plainfield Central shortstop Taylor Tooley dove for, but could not grab. Kramerich scored and Lockport was out to an early 1-0 lead.

Plainfield Central (21-8) showed their resolve and determination and tied the game in the top of the second inning. Wildcats second baseman Kali Pasternak fouled a number of pitches off of Lockport starting pitcher Alyssa Vorel before managing to get a single through the infield. Pasternak moved to second on a sacrifice and later scored on left fielder Carly Trenhaile's ringing double down the left-field line to tie the game at 1-1.

"I think that today's experience will help us out a lot," DeLange said. "Now they (underclassmen) have the experience and next year we should come out and do better. We didn't really have many errors and we played really well. We came out and played our hardest and that is all that you can ask for."

Lockport took the eventual lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Porters left fielder Kacey Rogers hit a one-out double to the fence in center field and although DeLange battled back to strike out the next Lockport batter, Bertram hit the first pitch in her at-bat back up the middle for a 2-1 lead.

"I think that we played really well," DeLange said. "I probably would have liked back the pitch that they scored the second run on, but overall I am happy with the way that I pitched. They just hit me and that is what they are supposed to do."

Plainfield Central had its best opportunity to again tie the game in the top of the fifth inning as DeLange and catcher Robyn Chearo managed back-to-back two-out singles. The Wildcats could not have asked for a better situation with top offensive threat Tooley on-deck. However, Tooley hit a bouncing grounder back to Vorel who had to jump to make the catch and then threw to first to end the Wildcats rally.

"(Tooley) was our go-to player all year," Campbell said. "She was up in the fifth with runner on and that is the kid that I want up. I have all the confidence in the world in her and if she gets it done, she gets it done. She has had an awesome career and she is a great ballplayer. We will definitely miss her."

Even though Tooley was 0-for-3 in the game from the plate, she was quick to credit her Wildcats teammates for not giving up throughout the entire game.

"I thought that we could have come out stronger," Tooley said. "Even though they scored a run right away we never gave up. When we scored, it fired us up and when they scored again we didn't give up, we just continued to hit. Even though we had a lot of young kids on our team, we still were right there with them for all of the game."

In the seventh inning, Plainfield Central's Olivia Scott singled to lead off the inning but never made it past second base as Lockport relief pitcher Dana Bowler struck out Chearo to end the game.

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