Published: May 15, 2008 12:06 pm            

Bulldogs reach regional title game

Effingham St. Anthony's offense had trouble warming up, but once it did . . . look out.

The Bulldogs edged Hillsboro 4-3 by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the victory in the Class 2A St. Anthony Softball Regional Wednesday at Evergreen Hollow Park. That win puts St. Anthony against Teutopolis Saturday in the championship game at 11 a.m.

"It took five innings for us to get going offensively," said St. Anthony Coach David Schuette. "Then in the seventh, we hit the ball well enough to get runs."

And that's when it counted the most. Trailing 3-2 after Hillsboro tallied two runs in the top of the seventh, St. Anthony came into the bottom of the inning on the verge of being eliminated.

Kelly McHugh started the inning off with a single to right field. Allison Kabbes followed with her third single of the game. Allison Murphy came up big with a bunt single to load the bases. Mary Jo Bushur put the ball in play towards the third baseman who opted to get the runner going home. But the throw was late and McHugh scored the tying run.

With one out, Taylor Behl came on to pinch hit and singled to score Kabbes and the winning run.

"We went eight days without a game and that hurt us," said Coach Schuette. "It took us those five innings to finally hit again. Their pitching is what our girls are used to, but they had us stymied there for five innings. We came through at the end and that's what counts."

Hannah Esker put the Hiltoppers down in order in the first two innings. Leftfielder Bushur aided Esker in the second when she made an outstanding diving catch on a fly ball hit by Kelsie Moroney.

But Hillsboro finally broke loose in the third. With two outs, Denee Menghini put down a dribbler to third and the throw was just a little late to get her. Paige Cullison followed with a triple to centerfield and the Hiltoppers had a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs put baserunners on in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings, but couldn't bring them home.

Hillsboro loaded the bases in the fifth with no outs and looked like it was about to break the game wide open. Katie Thacker led off the inning reaching on an error. Ashley Walsh followed with a ground ball and Thacker, attempting to get to second, ran over second baseman Andi Schuette. Thacker was called out because of interference. Stephanie Miller followed with a single and Menghini bunted and beat the throw to load the bases.

But the Bulldogs got tough. Kristen Winkler took over the pitching duties to start the fifth and got the final two outs on fly balls to end the threat. One of those was a diving catch by third baseman Nicole Haarmann.

St. Anthony finally broke into the scoring column in the sixth. Bushur led off with a bunt that Hillsboro couldn't get to and reached first safely. Winkler followed with a triple down the left field line sending Bushur home to tie the score at 1-1. Heather Esker came to bat and nailed a single to left-centerfield scoring Winkler for the go-ahead run. Hillsboro got the next three outs to end the inning.

The Hiltoppers came up in the top of the seventh to regain the lead. With one out, Miller drew a walk. With two outs, Cullison doubled Miller home to tie the score. The Hiltoppers took the lead on a triple by Kortney Banal.

Then came the dramatic bottom of the seventh finish by the Bulldogs.

"Errors again played a part in allowing Hillsboro to score runs," said Schuette. "Every time we commit errors, we allow runs to score. We're going to have to play error-free Saturday."

St. Anthony had 12 hits in the contest led by a hot-hitting Kabbes with three singles. Winkler had a single, triple and an RBI, while Heather Esker had two singles and an RBI. Five other Bulldogs hit the ball.

The Bulldogs celebrated Senior Night after the game. Graduating from the squad will be Hannah Esker, Nikki Gray, Andi Schuette and Nicole Haarmann.

The Bulldogs take a 16-12 record into Saturday's championship against top-seeded Teutopolis with a 32-2 mark. T-town beat Shelbyville 10-0 in a game Tuesday. The winner of the regional advances to the Newton Sectional Wednesday, May 21 to face the winner of the Robinson Regional.

Millie Lange can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 123 or millie.lange@effinghamdailynews.com.

St. Anthony Regional

At Evergreen Hollow Park

HILLSBORO
---------------ab---r---h---bi
Cullison cf----4---1---2---2
Banal p-------4---0---1---1
Young cr------0---0---0---0
Williams 1b---4---0---0---0
Moroney 2b---3---0---0---0
Pinkley c------3---0---1---0
Thacker rf-----3---0---0---0
Walsh 3b------3---0---0---0
Miller dp------2---1---1---0
Menghini lf----3---1---2---0
TOTALS------29---3---7---3

ST. ANTHONY
------------------ab---r---h---bi
Kabbes rf--------4---1---3---0
Murphy c--------4---0---1---0
Bushur lf--------4---1---1---0
Winkler dp------4---1---2---1
He.Esker 1b-----3---0---2---1
Dasenbrock cr--0---0---0---0
Behl ph----------1---0---1---1
Ha.Esker p------2---0---0---0
Brown ph--------1---0---0---0
Jansen ph-------1---0---0---0
Gray cf----------3---0---1---0
McHugh ss-------2---1---1---0
TOTALS---------31--4-12---3

Hillsboro------001---000---2--------3
St. Anthony---000---002---2--------4

E — He. Esker. LOB — Hillsboro 6, St. Anthony 6. 2B — Cullison. 3B — Menghini, Winkler, Banal. S — McHugh.

PITCHING SUMMARY
----------------IP--R--H--SO--BB
Hillsboro
Banal (L)------7---4--12--12---0
St. Anthony
Ha.Esker------4---1---2---1---0
Winkler (W)---3---2---5---1---1
WP — Banal. U — Swick (HP), Lietz (B). T — 1:25.