SOFTBALL SECTIONAL: Carterville holds on against Columbia
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A spectacular catch in centerfield by Hannah Wood saved two runs in the fifth inning and allowed Carterville to slip past Columbia 7-5 in Saturday's IHSA Class 2A softball Sectional Final in Nashville.
The Lady Lions (31-5) put up five runs in the second inning then tacked on in the sixth and seventh to advance into Monday's Super-Sectional in Johnston City against Shelbyville at 1:30 p.m.
"Give the kids credit, they battled, played good defense (after the second inning), and we got hits when we needed to," said Carterville head softball coach Brett Diel.
Three singles and a Carterville error led to two first inning runs for the Lady Eagles, but the Lady Lions wasted no time bouncing back in the second.
Carly Callahan and Sarah DaRosa led off the inning with back-to-back doubles, then after Megan Moon struck out, Dana Kaufmann, Amy Drust, Meredith Brown and Wood strung together four straight hits as Carterville took the lead 5-2.
"When they put up two in the bottom of the first, we knew we weren't very happy with our defensive effort right out of the gate," Diel said, "but we responded in the top of the second with a five spot."
More fielding mistakes by the Lady Lions allowed Columbia to claw back with two more runs in the bottom of the second, then the Eagles threatened again in the fifth.
Meaghan Touchette walked with one out, then Kassi Farmer singled and took second on fielder's indifference. DaRosa struck out Renee Ribolzi, then Allie Eckert popped a ball between second base and centerfield that looked like it would put the Lady Eagles on top, but Wood raced in from center and made a sliding catch to end the inning.
"All year we've been hitting the ball and we've talked about that, that one of these times it's going to fall for us, we just seemed to get robbed," said Columbia coach Rhonda Major. "It's just one of those things. The girls played with heart and soul and that's all I can ask of them."
Doubles by Drust and Brown added an insurance run for the Lions in the sixth, but Columbia got it back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Jordyn Amos.
Callahan led off the seventh with a single for Carterville, then raced home when Kaufmann reached on an error later in the inning for the game's final run.
"That insurance run late was very big," Diel said. "Great aggressive base running by Carly Callahan to score on that infield ground ball from second base, that was big. It made the difference, gave us a little more breathing room."
DaRosa, coming off of a two-hitter against Nashville on Friday, allowed the tying run to come to the plate in the bottom half, but got two pop-ups to end the threat with no damage and pick up the victory.
"It's tough, I don't envy her one bit," Diel said of his starting pitcher's task.
"With rain pushing these games back a day here and a day there, and we ask her to constantly come out and pitch against quality teams like Columbia, Nashville and Anna-Jonesboro in the Regional, it's just day after day she's being tested by the best lineups in the state of Illinois. She keeps getting it done, she keeps finding a way. The defense is getting it done behind her and we keep finding a way to win."
Chelsea Presley was 3-for-3 at the plate for the Lions to lead the way on offense. Brown (2-4, RBI), Wood (2-3, 2 RBI), Drust (2-4, RBI), Kaufmann (2-3, RBI) and DaRosa (1-2, RBI) also hit safely and drove in runs for Carterville.
Farmer led the way for Columbia (26-6) with three hits.