Taylor Lane’s triple powers Lockport softball past Bradley-Bourbonnais

LOCKPORT – Entering the bottom of the fifth inning Monday, Lockport‘s softball team came to bat trailing Southwest Suburban Conference rival Bradley-Bourbonnais 3-1, and the Boilermakers had Loyola-bound pitcher Lydia Hammond in the circle.

In short, it didn’t look good for the Porters.

But fortunes can change quickly in softball, and Lockport’s RJ Slavicek led off the inning with a single, then was safe at second when the throw on a grounder to short by Addison Way went awry. A single to center by pinch-hitter Sophia Hutera loaded the bases, bringing up Taylor Lane.

In her previous at-bats, Lane had popped to short and grounded to third. This time, she slugged a two-strike pitch on a line over the second baseman’s head. It rolled all the way to the outfield fence, starting the merry-go-round. All three runners scored, and Lane ended up on third with a three-run triple. She then scored on a grounder to short by Lilliana Janeczko to put her team ahead 5-3, which is how it ended.

“I was pretty confident going up there the third time,” Lane said. “I knew what adjustments I needed to make. She had been pitching me outside all game, but I thought with two strikes she might try to throw junk, and I wanted to fight it off.

“I’m not sure what the pitch was that I hit, but it was high and inside. Once it got past the outfielder, [first base] Coach Ang [Cushman] said, ‘Get three!’ It gave everyone a big lift, and it was probably my biggest hit of the year.”

The Boilermakers (12-9, 5-4) got off to a good start, scoring twice in the top of the first. A throwing error on a ball hit by Liv Woolman scored Bella Pusaleri before Alayna Sykes grounded to short to score Hammond.

Both Pusaleri and Hammond had three hits for the Boilers. They added another run in the top of the fifth on a double by Hammond that just missed going over the left-field fence and scored Pusaleri, who had singled and stolen second.

Then came the decisive bottom of the fifth, and Lockport (16-9, 6-4) held onto the lead, though it wasn’t without some drama at the end.

With two outs in the top of the seventh, Bradley-Bourbonnais got back-to-back singles from Pusaleri and Briston Schriefer to bring up Hammond, who had nearly homered in her previous at-bat.

Lockport coach Marissa Chovanec summoned left-handed throwing Bridget Faut to face the lefty Hammond, and Faut closed the door with a strikeout.

“That’s a lot of pressure on Bridget, but we had talked about being ready to come in no matter what situation,” Chovanec said. “Hammond is a heck of a player, and she was already 3 for 3 against Kelcie, so we thought a change would be good.

“After we threw it around a little in first inning and they scored, Kelcie and the defense did a good job of keeping it there. These girls don’t get down on themselves if they get behind. They keep working and making adjustments. They saw a lot of pitches the first two times through the lineup, and by the third time, they had seen pitches and patterns.”

For the Boilermakers, it was a game in which they did everything well, but didn’t get the win.

“We did everything but win,” Bradley-Bourbonnais coach Haylee Beck said. “We were up through 4½ innings. A couple small things didn’t go our way, and they got a clutch hit.

“Our girls had a lot of quality at-bats, and the energy in the dugout was good. Lockport is a real good team, and we are pretty young with seven sophomores. We’re putting them in a position that’s a big job, but they are handling it well. We just need to be a little more consistent.”