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6.0 years ago @ 7:50AM

Redbirds rally, but fall to Sacred Heart-Griffin 9-6 in 4A regional - The Telegraph - 5/23/2017

Redbirds rally, but fall to Sacred Heart-Griffin 9-6 in 4A regional

 

AHS ralllies, but falls to SHG 9-7

By Greg Shashack - gshashack@thetelegraph.com

 


Alton’s Tami Wong scored an early run to give her team the lead, but Alton fell to Sacred Heart-Griffin 9-6 in Class 4A regional action in Springfield.

 

Billy Hurst | For The Telegraph

SPRINGFIELD — After 33 games with varied plots, the Alton Redbirds got their first look a prep softball played exclusively at fast forward.

Playing with a temporary fence on an all-turf baseball field, the Springfield SHG Cyclones held off the Redbirds 9-6 on a damp night under the lights Tuesday in the SHG Class 4A Regional at Comstock Field.

SHG, seeded second in the regional behind Belleville East, improves to 26-6. East, 27-6 after beating Springfield 10-0 in Tuesday’s first semifinal, will play SHG for the regional title at 11 a.m. Saturday. Alton, seeking its first regional title since 2006, closed its season at 22-12.

“I don’t want to make excuses, but it’s a different situation up here,” Alton coach Dan Carter said. “And that’s the advantage of hosting a regional.”

SHG normally plays its home games on a tradition dirt infield and both teams had to make adjustments to a surface that turned a hard-hit groundball into a gap shot. The enclosed surroundings for the baseball complex made charging admission — an IHSA requirement — easier.

“You’ve just got to get used to the hops because it will get on you fast,” SHG coach Al Yoho said of playing on the artificial turf.

Alton was the first to take advantage of the fast track when Tomi Dublo shot a grounder through the left side that reached the fence in left center for a double that drove in Tami Wong and gave the Redbirds a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

The Cyclones answered with three runs in the bottom of the first on three hits and a pair of walks off Alton freshman Abby Scyoc.

The Redbirds cut the deficit to 3-2 in the second inning on Miranda Hudson’s home run deep over the fence 200 feet away in left. SHG’s Katie Weller’s two-out, two-run double in the fourth grew the Cyclones’ lead to 5-2. But Alton again fought back, with singles from Rachael McCoy and Bronte Fencel leading off the fifth inning before Savannah Fisher’s sacrifice fly and Dublo’s RBI single again got the Redbirds within a run at 5-4.

The Redbirds trailed 6-4 when a Cyclones throwing error scored two Alton runs after Hudson doubled and McCoy singled. Alton finished with 10 hits off SHG pitcher Bailey Morrow, including eight over the final three innings.

But the 6-6 tie the Redbirds worked to earn in the top of the sixth quickly vanished in the bottom of the inning when SHG responded with three runs on three hits to win it. Scyoc allowed 12 hits, walked six and struck out one to take the loss.

But Carter had few complaints with his team’s performance.

“I thought we played one of our better games,” Carter said. “(SHG) is a good ballclub. … I’m very proud of the girls. We battled. Got down, tied it. Unfortunately for us, they’re moving on and we’re not.”


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