Spartans Drop Heartbreaker to Glenbard South

Lauren Gorski and the Spartans were down to their last strike and facing elimination in the seventh inning of their Class 3A sectional semifinal showdown with Glenbard South on Thursday.

But St. Francis caught a break when Gorski, a senior, lofted a fly ball to right field, which Raiders’ outfielder Rachel Cohen dropped. That plated Aly Germanos and tied the game 1-1.

Yet the momentum St. Francis enjoyed after climbing back into the contest evaporated when Hannah Davey grounded a hit down the left-field line to drive in, ironically, Cohen with the winning run in the bottom half of the seventh.

The Spartans ended what was an otherwise successful 2011 season with a 2-1 loss.

St. Francis coach Ralph Remus said afterward that the Spartans, who finished 26-6, should be proud of what they accomplished during the season.

“It was a good game,” he said. “I’m very proud of the kids. We battled all the way and we didn’t hang our heads when we were behind. They had the last at-bat and they scored. No shame.

“I don’t like to lose, but my kids played a great game and I’m very proud of them. Glenbard’s got a nice team. Personally I hope they go all the way and win state now. It makes us look better.”

Glenbard South pitcher Jess Wilkes had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning, but junior third baseman broke that up with a clean single up the middle.

“She’s very good at moving the ball around,” Remus said. “She changed speeds OK today, but more than anything she was putting the ball where she wanted to put it and making us hit some pitches that we didn’t want to hit. She did a real nice job.”

St. Francis starter (21-4) also did a nice job of keeping Glenbard South hitters bottled up for most of the game, too. Ronchetto, a senior, kept the Raiders (26-5) off the scoreboard through the first four innings and scattered six hits.

“Taylor pitched phenomenal,” said Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda. “She kept us off balance. I can’t remember a time (Raiders’ No. 5 hitter) Janey (Trzaska) looked like that. (Trzaska was 0-for-3). She did a really good job on Jane.”

In the seventh, Germanos singled with one out, stole second, advanced to third on Catherine Fitzgerald’s infield grounder and scored on the error.

“It was not the top of the order that scored for us,” Remus noted. “It was the bottom of the order that scored, and I was looking forward to (our team) batting in the eighth inning. I thought, ‘The top of the order is up,’ but we just couldn’t get out of the seventh.”

The Spartans will have some holes to fill next season. They’re losing six seniors to graduation—among them Ronchetto, Gorski, Laura Behnke, Paige Davis and Emily Karpinski.

“Five of them have been with me for four years,” Remus said. “It’s tough to say goodbye to them and just the fact that I’m so proud of them. It hurts to lose, but (I told them to) try not to hang your heads because you should be proud of the game you played.”

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.