EAST PEORIA – Once up seven the Kaneland softball team was still nursing a five-run cushion and three outs away from a Class 3A State title.
Montini had a different plan, and the Broncos put together a record-breaking inning in the seventh to claim a 15-8 win over the Knights on Saturday for the title.
"It was a tough one," Kaneland first baseman Hannah Theobald said. "I think that was their inning where they punched there way through, and hats off to them for doing that."
The first 12 batters in the seventh all reached and scored for Montini (30-9), which trailed 8-3 going into the seventh.
The game reminded players and coaches of both teams of the last times the teams met at the Marengo tournament – Montini was up 10-2 after five but loss 11-10.
"Last time we played them we were slaughtering them and then they caught up the last inning," said Montini center field Cynthia Ng, who had the go-ahead hit in the seventh out of the No. 9 hole. "We decided to do the same thing."
Kaneland (27-10) scored seven in the first three innings. Theobald doubled home Donatela Sommesi in the first and added an RBI as part of a two-run third for the Knights. Montini committed three errors in the second, leading to a four-run frame for Kaneland.
The Knights could have piled on even more in the first three innings – they left eight runners on base in the first three frames.
"We came out knowing we had to hit early and hit often, and this team as you saw was a really good hitting team," Theobald said. "That was our plan, and we needed to carry it through to the end. That's what really got us."
Montini started a comeback in the fifth off starter Emilee Erickson, finally connecting off her. Alyssa Filkowski hit a two-run home run, then Nikki Cuchran followed with a solo blast, her 16th of the year.
But in the bottom of the frame, Sommesi hit a solo blast to right to seeming stem the tide and build the lead back to five.
"I'm super proud of what the kids have done this year, taken a midseason slide down to the state finals," Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler said. "At the beginning of the year, if you would have asked me of we would make it this far, I knew we were talented enough to do some damage and to win some games, but at some point midseason these ladies decided they weren't going to lose anymore. And they took it all the way to the state finals. I'm proud as heck of these young ladies."
Erickson faced the first six batters of the seventh, leaving after giving up a single Ashley Lynch. Before that at-bat, the bottom four in the order were a combined 0 for 12.
McKenna Ryan came into pitch and allowed two more to reach before Ng hit a two-run single to break an 8-8 tie.
Erickson struck out 11 but allowed 10 hits and nine earned runs – six of those runs and four of those hits came in the seventh. Ryan allowed five earned runs and struck out two in her inning.
Kuefler said confidence has been the calling card of the Knights during the 16-game winning streak they carried into the championship game, and he said that was no different when his team trailed by seven in the bottom of the seventh.
"Our confidence was high even into the last inning," Kuefler said. "They all came into the dugout after that long inning, and said hey girls we've done this before. Let's do it again. That confidence never wavered."
The 12 runs scored by Montini was the most by a team in a single inning of any state tournament game, breaking Moline's record of 11 in a 1995 4A semifinal against Chicago Washington.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," Montini coach Mike Bukovsky said. "I've been coaching high school sports for 34 years at Montini and have never seen anything like that. For this to happen in this game, this moment – first of all we have to tip our cap to Kaneland. For five or six innings of the game they outplayed us, they outcoached us, they outhustled us, they outeverythinged us. We made a few things happen at the end there and our kids never quit."
By the numbers: Allyson Dilday allowed just one run in 4 2/3 innings of relief for Montini. The only thing keep her from perfection among the last 14 batters she face was Sommesi's home run. Sommesi finished 3 for 4 and scored four times, driving in two. She was the only Knight with a multi-hit game. Filkowski finished 4 for 5 with four RBIs, Lauren Latoria also drove in four as part of a 3 for 5 day, and Emily Alexander and Cuchran had two hits each for the Broncos.
Beyond the stats: Providence Catholic beat Mt. Zion, 16-15 in eight innings, in a wild third-place game. Mt. Zion led 10-6 going into the bottom of the fifth, but Providence scored the next five. In the top of the seventh, Mt. Zion scored five, but Providence tied it at 15 with four in the bottom of the seventh.
They said it: "It was a really tough way to end, but we know the battle it takes to get here," Theobald said. "We've scratched and clawed our way to the top. We've done everything we can possibly do. I think we've had a great season... This is exactly where we need to be and we should build off of this for next year."