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Clifton Central starts postseason with 9-3 win over St. Anne

Comets claim sixth win in past seven games

Clifton Central's Emily Ponton reaches home on an inside the park home run during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School.

Clifton Central's Emily Ponton reaches home on an inside the park home run during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School. (Tiffany Blanchette)

By Adam Tumino

A 3-18 start to the season ended any hopes the Clifton Central softball team may have had to earn their fourth winning season in the last five years, but since the calendar turned to May, the Comets have started to heat up.

After closing the regular season on a 5-1 run, the Comets (10-19) started postseason play with a 9-3 victory over St. Anne (2-19) in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinals to keep their season alive a little bit longer.

Central, the hosts of Monday’s quarterfinal, will advance to play River Valley Conference opponent Grant Park in Tuesday’s semifinal in Dwight after losing a pair of 4-0 games to the Dragons earlier this season.

“It feels good because we wanted this, and we want Grant Park again,” sophomore Emily Ponton said. “I think we are definitely meshing together a lot better than we did at the beginning. We’re young, and we’re going to come back next year if we don’t get what we want this year.”

Clifton Central's Rayven Perkins beats the throw to St. Anne's Addison Rafalski at third base during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School.

Class 1A Softball: Clifton Central vs. St. Anne Clifton Central's Rayven Perkins beats the throw to St. Anne's Addison Rafalski at third base during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School. (Tiffany Blanchette)

Ponton hit an inside-the-park home run to cap a three-run rally for the Comets in the first inning. She sent an RBI single to left in the third inning, and two batters later, Ella Ponton hit into an error to send Emily home to make it 5-0.

St. Anne scored in the fourth when Tatum Kirkland doubled, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch, but the Comets added four runs in the bottom half with Perkins, Emily Ponton and Ella Ponton all having RBI hits.

The Cardinals rallied for two runs in the sixth, getting singles from Kirkland and Hedges, followed by RBI groundouts from Tessa DeYoung and Mia Saldivar to make it 9-3 entering the seventh.

After DeYoung threw a shutout inning in the top of the seventh, St. Anne managed to load the bases in the bottom half before Central’s Mallory Stewart got out of the jam to finish a complete game.

Clifton Central's Mallory Stewart releases a pitch during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School.

Class 1A Softball: Clifton Central vs. St. Anne Clifton Central's Mallory Stewart releases a pitch during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School. (Tiffany Blanchette)

Stewart allowed seven hits and had four strikeouts in the win. Emily Ponton was 3 for 3 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Perkins was 2 for 2 with a walk, an RBI and three runs, while Ella Ponton was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Perkins was among the Comets playing in their final home game Monday.

“I’m glad all of us came together as a team to get that win,” Perkins said. “It’s very sad that it’s my last home game year, but I’m very happy with how the season went, and I’m excited to see how we continue on.”

Clifton Central's Rayven Perkins looks to throw to first base during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School.

Class 1A Softball: Clifton Central vs. St. Anne Clifton Central's Rayven Perkins looks to throw to first base during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School. (Tiffany Blanchette)

Grant Park pitcher Cheyenne Hayes will be a good test for the red-hot Comets. She threw a no-hitter in the first game between these teams on April 7 and followed it with a two-hitter on April 9.

But Central has become more battle-tested since then. The April 7 loss started a stretch of eight of the Comets’ last 11 losses came against teams ranked in the Illinois Softball Coaches Association Polls, including 2A teams Beecher, Manteno and Wilmington.

Coach Matti Lanie has seen Central battle those tough opponents, and now that they’ve managed to string some wins together, she’s excited to see how they finish the season.

“We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season,” Lanie said. “I’m seeing fight in them. They’re not bowing down to the competition, that’s for sure. They keep fighting and pushing through, and it’s exciting to see.”

St. Anne's Tessa DeYoung releases a pitch during Clifton Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School.

Class 1A Softball: Clifton Central vs. St. Anne St. Anne's Tessa DeYoung releases a pitch during Clifton Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School. (Tiffany Blanchette)

For St. Anne, Kirkland finished the game 2 for 4 with two runs. DeYoung had eight strikeouts and two walks with just two of the nine runs earned.

Monday’s loss was a promising end to the season for the Cardinals, especially considering that when they fell to Watseka 25-0 in their season opener, a majority of the roster was taking the field in a game for the first time.

“When we started, I had seven out of 12 players that had never played softball before,” Cardinals coach Candy Torres said. “Watching what happened today against a team like Central, I was proud, to say the least. We stayed in this game with them, and we had a chance at the end, a little bit.

“But just knowing these girls came in and learned softball this season, it’s just miraculous. It was hard work.”

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Clifton Central's Emily Ponton slides safely into third during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School.

Class 1A Softball: Clifton Central vs. St. Anne Clifton Central's Emily Ponton slides safely into third during Central's 9-3 victory over St. Anne in the Class 1A Dwight Regional quarterfinal game at Central High School. (Tiffany Blanchette)

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Adam Tumino

Adam Tumino

Adam Tumino has been a sports reporter at the Daily Journal since October 2024. He is now in his third year covering high school sports, and before that covered sports as a student at Eastern Illinois University.