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Sports

Davey Delivers Game-winning Hit for Raiders

Center fielder Hannah Davey drives in Rachel Cohen from second base to give Glenbard South a 2-1 victory over St. Francis in the sectional semifinals. Glenbard South plays for the sectional championship on Saturday morning.

In the end, everything worked out for Rachel Cohen and Glenbard South’s softball team as they captured a 2-1 sectional semifinal victory over host St. Francis Thursday afternoon.

And Cohen couldn’t have been happier.

Cohen, the team’s right fielder, had a fly ball pop in and out of her glove with two outs in the top of the seventh that allowed the tying run to cross the plate.

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But Cohen put that play behind her. She was hit by a pitch in the Raiders’ half of the seventh, advanced to second after Bri Meath walked and raced home with the winning run on Hannah Davey’s one-out single down the left-field line.  

“I totally messed up out there, but I came in (to the dugout) and everyone was supporting me. It was really great,” Cohen said.

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Davey stepped into the batter's box with the mindset of trying to advance Cohen to third.

“My first strategy was to hit it to the right side,” Davey said, “but basically I wanted to help my team out and get it to the outfield somehow and get her (Cohen) home.”

And Davey, who had been in a slump, did just that.

“It was a good feeling,” she said. “I was just jumping up and down going to second (base after the hit). It was so exciting.”

Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda gave kudos to Cohen for not allowing the outfield miscue to get her down.

“That’s baseball or softball or whatever you want to say, but that is definitely the game,” Fonda said. “You make an error in the field and you turn around and it’s like, ‘I’m on deck. I have a chance here.’

“That’s what makes this sport different from all the others. Props to her (Cohen) for keeping her mind and getting her mind set in the box.”

Prior to the game-deciding seventh, St. Francis pitcher Taylor Ronchetto and Glenbard South ace Jess Wilkes were locked in a duel. Wilkes had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning, while Ronchetto held the Raiders (26-5) in check through four innings.

Wilkes limited the Spartans (26-6) to two hits.

The Raiders, who defeated Chicago Maria for the regional title last Saturday, had five days off between games. Fonda said Wilkes and her teammates were chomping at the bit to play on Thursday.

“Jess pitched a phenomenal game. Her ball moved tremendously, but Jess pitched great and (catcher) Jackie Wrona called a tremendous game as well. They’re a great duo; they work really well together.

“We were like caged animals. It’s like we’ve been out for a week and now let’s play. We hadn’t played a game since Saturday and it’s a long time to sit around. She (Wilkes) had a little more pop on her ball and the ball was moving pretty well, too.”

Brianna Meath broke the scoreless deadlock in the fifth. She led off with a double, stole third base and scampered home after St. Francis catcher Blaine Carragher’s throw to third got away from the third baseman.

Davey and shortstop Jen Wittenberg each had two hits for the Raiders while Lisa Bartha doubled in the fourth inning. Defensively, third baseman Olivia Ramirez made three nice plays, including a diving catch of a line drive in the sixth with a St. Francis baserunner in scoring position.

Glenbard South, the No. 2 seed in the St. Francis sectional, faces No. 4-seed Nazareth Academy for the championship at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Roadrunners surprised top-seeded Riverside-Brookfield 6-3 in the other sectional semifinal game on Wednesday.

The Raiders defeated R-B twice during the Metro Suburban Conference season.

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