Eastland miscues equate victory for IC

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ASHTON – As strange as it might sound, swinging the bat wasn’t the way for Indian Creek to win a regional title on Saturday.

Instead, plate discipline and taking advantage of Lanark Eastland’s mistakes was, and, despite only two hits, Indian Creek won the Class 1A softball Ashton-Franklin Center regional title with a 4-1 victory against the Cougars at Ashton-Franklin Center.

Indian Creek plays Somonauk at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in Eastland Sectional.

The Timberwolves (19-10) drew 10 walks and moved runners around the bases on six wild pitches by Eastland (20-11) pitcher Marissa Harris and three passed balls by catcher Taylor Ruter.

“That’s a weird way to win,” said Indian creek pitcher Jenna Holm, who pitched the final 1 2-3 innings in relief to shut the door on Eastland. “She was a pretty good pitcher, probably the fastest we’ve seen since the beginning of the season. We tried to squeeze the plate a little bit when we noticed she was throwing outside.”

Indian Creek pushed two runs across in the first inning. Jen Westbrook led off with a single just down the third base line. Anna Stiker and Holm followed with walks, and with Carol Jensky at the plate, Westbrook scored on a wild pitch. After Jensky walked, Lauren Anderson drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Timberwolves ahead by two.

It would be more of the same for Indian Creek in the second when starting pitcher Sarah Champan drew a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and took third on a passed ball. Champan then scored on a wild pitch.

“Any given day you have to take advantage,” Indian Creek coach Fred Colon said. “They took advantage of what’s given to them. You need to capitalize and that’s what it’s all about.”

The score stayed 3-0 until the fifth, when Eastland’s Karoline Kniss scored on an RBI single by Harris.

With Eastland building what looked like a two-out rally, Indian Creek right fielder Devon White saved a hit and a potential run on a shoestring catch to rob Haylee Endress of a hit.

“I thought it was going farther back so I first drop-stepped and then I had to run,” White said. “It was cool. It was fun.”

Indian Creek added a run in the next inning when Stiker, who had the Timberwolves only other hit with a bunt single, came around to score on the result of a passed ball and two wild pitches.

Holm relieved Chapman with one out and two Eastland runners on base in the top of the sixth and got out of the jam with two ground ball outs. Holm pitched a scoreless seventh to secure the win.

“They did a beautiful job,” Colon said. “They worked hard the whole season to get where they’re at now. They’ve accomplished a lot.”