Class 4A softball: Plainfield South upsets Minooka for regional title

MINOOKA – Kaylee Aimone was a little nervous.

The Plainfield South third baseman was batting with runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the first inning. The Cougars’ Lauren Pell hit the second pitch of the game for a single, and then Molly Nichols laid down a bunt. The throw was wide, and Pell went to third while Nichols took second. Minooka pitcher Olivia Hristov retired the next two hitters on a comebacker and a pop to short, bringing up Aimone.

Hristov got ahead of Aimone with a 1-2 count before Aimone lined a single to right to score Pell and Nichols. Aimone went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single to center by Kara Aguilar, giving the Cougars (12-17), seeded seventh in the eight-team sub-sectional, a 3-0 lead en route to a 6-5 victory. It’s the first regional championship for Plainfield South since 2008, and they will play the winner of Bradley-Bourbonnais and Normal Community in the Pekin Sectional on Tuesday.

“I was so nervous,” Aimone said. “My team was cheering me on, and I was going through all types of emotions. Then I got two strikes on me, and I had to take a step back to clear my head.

“That first hit got us going, and that first inning gave us a nice cushion.”

Plainfield South pitcher Addison Brandl held down the potent Minooka offense, throwing three perfect innings to start the game. South took advantage of another Minooka throwing error in the top of the fourth and moved ahead, 6-0, as Nichols had an RBI single.

“It was a crazy game,” Brandl said. “I was pacing in the dugout when we were hitting. I just tried to keep them off-balance because they are a good hitting team. I knew I had to throw strikes and have faith in my teammates. I couldn’t do it without them.

“It feels great to be a senior and win our first regional championship in a long time.”

Minooka (18-10), the sub-sectional’s No. 2 seed, had a chance to score in the bottom of the fourth. Anna McClimon led off with a single and went to second on a single by Megan Medlin. A throwing error allowed the runners to move to second and third. Chloe Kohnhorst followed with a flyout to left, and McClimon appeared to tag up and score. Plainfield South appealed, and McClimon was called out for leaving early. Brandl struck out the next hitter to end the inning.

The Indians cut the gap in half in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run double by Sofi Dzubia and an RBI single by McClimon. In the bottom of the seventh, Taylor Mackin led off with a single and was forced out at second on a grounder to short by Grace Anderson. An out later, McClimon homered to center, scoring Anderson ahead of her and making it 6-5. Brandl then retired the next hitter to end the game.

“This is a huge win for our program,” South coach Alfonzo Lopez said. “Kaylee Aimone came through with a big hit in the first inning with two outs and two strikes. We were one strike away from not scoring with runners on second and third with no outs, and she gets the big hit. She also played some great defense at third.

“Addison threw her best. She is a senior, and she wanted the ball. She did a good job of keeping them off-balance. Minooka is a heck of a team. We know what they did to a lot of teams and what they did to us (Minooka won the regular-season matchup, 7-0). But, that’s why you play the game. It doesn’t matter what happened last time.”

For Minooka, it was a quicker exit than hoped.

“We really didn’t want to be out this soon,” Minooka coach Mark Brown said. “But that’s softball sometimes. We have had many games where we give away outs and runs early and then have to come back. You can’t play that way very often and keep expecting to win.

“Hats off to Plainfield South. They came ready to play, and they took advantage of some of our mistakes. We almost came back again. It was a good season for us. We have six starters coming back next year, so we are looking forward to that.”