Defending state champion Pontiac blanks L-P in regional final

PONTIAC – La Salle-Peru knew coming into its Class 3A Pontiac Regional championship matchup with defending state champion Pontiac - led by Stanford recruit in Elena Krause - it would have to be at the top of its game.

But Krause dominated in the circle and at the plate in a 7-0 victory that handed the Cavaliers their sixth consecutive regional final loss and extended their regional title drought to 11 seasons.

Krause made her presence at the plate known right out of the gates as the leadoff hitter slapped a shot to short left field and then turned on the jets for a double.

After a stolen base, India Mattingly picked up the RBI groundout to score Krause and put the Indians ahead 1-0 early.

After that, L-P pitcher Taylor Vescogni went toe to toe with the all-stater and ended the inning with a pair of strikeouts.

But in the bottom half of the first, Krause retired the Cavs hitters in order while also picking up a pair of strikeouts.

Both pitchers continued to dominate, picking up two more strikeouts each in the second inning as the score remained 1-0.

The Indians threatened in the third as Izzy Hinz singled and then Krause again singled before Mattingly walked to load the bases with two outs, but once again Vescogni picked up two Ks and didn’t allow a run to cross.

The Cavs threatened in the bottom of the fourth with Kelsey Frederick reaching on an error and Anna Riva singling for L-P’s first hit of the game.

Makenzie Chamberlain put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over and then Vescogni attempted to bunt twice, but eventually struck out as did Allie Thome to end the threat.

“We did not bunt well at all today,” L-P coach Randy Huebbe said. “Outside of Chamberlain’s bunt we did not bunt well and that kind of hurt us from getting some things going.”

In the top of the fifth, the Indians put some insurance runs on the board when Krause stepped to the plate and crushed a two-out solo home run off the center field scoreboard to make it 2-0.

“Coming into this game we knew L-P had a really good pitcher,” Krause said. “I knew I had to stay focused at the plate and in the circle and was able to get some things going.”

The two-out nightmare continued for L-P when Tessa Collins walked and Mattingly reached on an error.

That brought up Olivia Lindsay, who made the Cavs pay as she ripped an RBI single down the right-field line to push the lead to 3-0.

It was then Natalie Zimmerman’s turn and she crushed a two-run double to left to make it 5-0.

“We got the lead early, but we really made them pay for the error,” Pontiac coach Nicole Hayner said. “I thought we adjusted well to a really good pitcher and then Elena was solid as usual in the circle.”

In the top of the sixth, Kendall Pitchford had a leadoff walk and Payton Rodgers singled to left where an error allowed the runners to move up to second and third.

Pitchford made it 6-0 as she scored on a wild pitch before Krause had an infield RBI single to push the advantage to 7-0.

L-P threatened again in the bottom half of the inning with Callie Mertes leading off with a single to right. With two outs, Chamberlain hit a single up the middle, but once again the Cavs were denied any runs.

“The errors really hurt us,” Huebbe said. “Had we been down just 2-0 we would’ve done things differently there and who knows what we could’ve got going, but being down 5-0 and then 7-0 we were forced to approach things differently.”

L-P (30-6) was led by Mertes, Riva and Chamberlain with a hit each, while Vescogni took the loss, going five innings, giving up six runs (three earned) and striking out 10.

Krause who went 4 for 4 with two RBIs. She struck out 13 and walked none in the shutout.

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Lasalle Peru High School's Karmen Piano looks to the umpire for the call after sliding into second base during the Illinois Class 3A regional game on May 30, 2025 at Pontiac High School. (Kyle Russell)