Emily Moline was just hoping to put a ball in play.

With runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth inning, the St. Charles East freshman was fighting to keep her at-bat alive with four straight swings, three of them being foul balls.

On her fifth swing, she sent the ball to left field, hoping it would go out.

“I thought it honestly might have been caught with the way the left fielder was tracking it,” Moline said. “I was just like, ‘Oh gosh, this better go.’ And then it did, and it was just so exciting.”

Moline’s hit cleared the fence for a three-run home run and proved to be the difference-maker in the end as the second-seeded Saints secured a 3-1 victory over Schaumburg for a home Class 4A regional title.

“It was just so awesome, I don’t even know how to describe it,” Moline said. “Especially to do it in the regional final, that was amazing. And my team was just so supportive, which made it even better.”

With the win, the Saints (29-8) will go on to face sixth-seeded Glenbard East in a Bartlett Sectional semifinal Wednesday. The Rams upset third-seeded Lake Park 6-5 to win their regional title.

“We needed everybody to perform out there,” Saints coach Jarod Gutesha said. “That was a real nice win, and it feels good to move on to the sectional.”

Moline’s home run was just the second in her young career, her first coming against Lake Park back on May 7. Gutesha said it was moments like that that’s led to her working her way into the lineup more often.

“When she hit it, I kept looking at the outfielder and then the wall and saw it carry over,” Gutesha said. “She’s starting to get comfortable with the season and adapting to her role. She’s coming around, and we’re definitely going to try to get her more at-bats.”

The home run was more than enough run support for Hannah Wulf to work with in the circle. The South Carolina commit went the entire contest, allowing just two hits, three walks and one run while striking out 10 batters.

“Since it’s the second time we’ve faced them in a week, I knew I couldn’t strike everyone out and relied on my defense,” Wulf said. “After the last few weeks, I really trusted them, and they pulled through and had a great game.”

The Saxons (15-8) threatened the lead in the sixth inning, getting their first three batters on with a walk and two errors, one of which scored Madison Linnemann and put the tying run on first with no outs. But after a meeting in the circle, Wulf would take care of the next three batters to hold the lead.

“I really leaned on my catcher (Hayden Sujack) and remembered that she works for me and I worked for her,” Wulf said. “And I just knew my defense had my back, so I just took a deep breath and we got to work.”

Schaumburg also got a solid outing in the circle from Alana Nieto. The freshman allowed just five hits and three runs while striking out five after allowing 13 runs against the Saints in their regular-season finale.

“She’s been pretty stellar for us, and I’m happy we get to keep her for another three years,” Saxons coach Ellen Abreu said. “She has command, she’s confident and has control of her pitches, and you can’t really ask for anything better from her.”

Taylor Dolecki led the Saxons offense in the contest with a single in the first inning and a pair of walks. Francheska Manding had the team’s only other hit, a double in the fifth inning.

“The pitching did its job, defense had some big plays too, but it just came down to who had the big hit,” Abreu said. “We had some fight there in the end, which is good, and we tried to get some kids in. But at the end of the day, you either win or lose, and it just wasn’t our day.”