Calm, cool Reese Mosolino, Prairie Ridge defeat Belvidere North to reach sectional final

SYCAMORE – Facing a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the top of the sixth inning Thursday, Prairie Ridge‘s Reese Mosolino, never to show too much emotion, kept her cool.

A timeout by coach Scott Busam to meet with his junior ace and infield defense in the pitcher’s circle showed him Mosolino had things under control – as she always does.

The right-hander got a popup on the first pitch to Belvidere North cleanup hitter Isabelle Schadle and then struck out No. 5 hitter Alexa Norgard on three pitches to escape trouble.

Mosolino yelled, “let’s go,” pumped her fist and had a jump to her step as she ran to the dugout, and top-seeded Prairie Ridge finished off a 3-0 shutout over third-seeded Belvidere North to reach the Class 3A Sycamore Sectional final.

The Wolves (26-1-1) defeated No. 2 Crystal Lake Central 5-2 on Friday, their first sectional championship since 2009. Central (25-6) has never won a sectional title.

Prairie Ridge faces either Antioch or Mundelein (Carmel) at 4:30 p.m. Monday in the Kaneland Supersectional.

“Her composure in the circle is everything,” Prairie Ridge coach Scott Busam said of Mosolino, who threw a 1-0 shutout in a regional final win over Harvard last week. “I call a timeout and there’s not one set of panicked eyes. You look at Reese and she’s like, ‘Yeah, we can do that.’

“Her ability to remain composed in big moments, in big games, is one of her best attributes.”

Mosolino fired eight strikeouts and allowed two walks and three hits, all singles, in the complete game. The Blue Thunder (24-10) entered Thursday with 18 straight victories.

“I was a little scared, but I knew I could get them out with my team behind me,” Mosolino said. “If I was just throwing strikes, I could get them out. I was just very happy that they didn’t score and we put a stop to their momentum.”

Belvidere North coach Jason Yankey credited Mosolino for challenging his hitters.

“She’s very tough, there’s not doubt,” Yankey said. “A lot of pitchers are afraid to throw us inside because we do hit well inside. She snuck it in on the handle of the bat, and we couldn’t do much with it. She jammed us.”

Prairie Ridge took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, helped by a pair of Belvidere North errors. Senior Ady Kiddy reached first on an error, got to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Parker Frey and came around to score with two outs after senior Kendra Carroll pulled a hard single to left field.

Busam waved Kiddy around third base, and as the ball was thrown into the infield, she hit the brakes and retreated halfway between third and home plate before seeing the ball get away from the catcher. The always-alert Kiddy turned around and headed back home for a 1-0 lead.

“Busam goes, ‘Back, back, back!’ and I’m like, ‘Oh great, I don’t know,’ ” said Kiddy, who scored Prairie Ridge’s only run in the regional final against Harvard on a popup to the first baseman. “It seemed like they were going to make an ESPN play there. I was a little hesitant.

“I think next time I’m just going to all in, head-first diving.”

Kiddy isn’t one to slow down.

“There’s one thing you got to know about Ady Kiddy. If she sees you wave her in, it’s over,” Busam said. “I tried to hold her up, and she was like, ‘Too late.’ A little bit of a circus out there. That was a huge moment for us.”

Prairie Ridge scored its second run in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Carroll and sophomore Bella Moore after two quick outs. After striking out her first time up, Moore ripped a pitch from Ava Morris into the left-center field gap.

The Wolves have kept a consistent lineup in recent weeks, but Busam chose to move Moore up Thursday.

“She’s sort of this quiet monster,” Busam said. “She’s silly, she’s energetic, and then she gets in the batter’s box and it’s killer instinct.”

Moore has put in extra work, waiting for her moment.

“I missed practice the other day and I went into the facility and I worked on keeping my hands above the ball a lot,” Moore said. “I just went up with the mindset, ‘Don’t get under the ball.’ When I saw Kendra get the big hit I was like, ‘All right, this is the time.’ ”

Prairie Ridge added a third and final run in the fifth on the team’s third double, this time from Kiddy. Her hot smash to left field with two outs knocked in No. 9 hitter Emma Dallas, who reached base on a bunt single with two outs.

Many Crystal Lake Central players were in attendance Thursday.

“Just jump on them early, I think that’s the key,” Kiddy said of Friday’s rematch.