Plainfield South rises again

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On a single to shallow center field by senior catcher Mary Giancarlo, Plainfield South High School's Krista Matsui stomped on the gas pedal like she was driving a Chevy Monte Carlo, making her way in muscle-car fashion from second base to home plate.

With one out in the top of the eighth inning Thursday afternoon, Giancarlo grooved a 1-0 inside pitch from Lockport junior right-hander Allison Shimkus into the grass. Spinning her tires in the dirt, Matsui wheeled around third and headed home -- a huge part of the recipe.

Speed and power.

Power and speed.

It can be a lethal combo.

"I was trying to advance her, if anything," Giancarlo said. "That's my job. The No. 3 hitter's job is to move the runner and get to the fourth batter. I was just trying to do that, but hey, a base hit works well, too."

Much like buying a hot dog, Plainfield South ordered the works with Giancarlo. The Lewis University recruit singled in Matsui as the sixth-seeded Cougars continued to play giant killer with a 2-1 victory over the second-seeded Porters in the softball semifinals of the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional.

Matsui, the senior shortstop bound for Northern Illinois, paced Plainfield South (25-8) at 3-for-4 with an RBI. Future St. Francis outfielder Jackie Frey sacrificed twice, while junior third baseman Melissa Reyes singled and scored, junior outfielder Kendall Weber added a single and Giancarlo walked.

Acing 69-of-95 pitches for strikes, senior pitcher Alyssa Schrader held Lockport (29-7) to 4 hits and a pair of walks. She struck out 3 and coaxed 15 ground-ball outs, advancing the Cougars into Saturday's championship game vs. No. 4 Naperville Central (25-6) at 9 a.m. -- an hour earlier than originally scheduled due to South's graduation.

Although the Southies lost 1-0 to Lockport in 8 innings on May 12, the Cougars ousted third-seeded Downers Grove South 3-1 Saturday for a second straight regional title and then dispatched the Porters when

Matsui slapped a leadoff single into even shallower left-center, Frey bunted her over on an 0-1 count and Giancarlo recorded the robust RBI for the winner.

Speed and execution.

Speed and power.

It can be a perfect combo.

"How about it," Plainfield South coach Tara Singler said about the Cougars' first-ever softball win over Lockport. "The girls did it and we executed the bunt with Jackie, which was really big. Without that, it's Krista trying to score from first, and that's a whole lot different than scoring from second."

"I was looking for home and I kept watching Coach Singler," Matsui said. "I was looking for her windup to tell me to go home and she did, so I ran my fastest and scored. I thought it was going to be very close at the plate because it was almost like an infield single. I had to slide by her or I would have been called out."

Despite stranding 4 baserunners through 5 innings, South answered the call first. Reyes reached on a two-out bunt single in the top of the fifth and gained second on a wild pitch. Matsui sliced an RBI single up the middle, with Reyes crossing the plate and Matsui hustling to third for the 1-0 lead.

"That last game against them was huge," Singler said. "It was another one of those type of games and coming in, we picked up right where we left off. The last time, we didn't we had the chance to finish things and we thought we kind of let that one slip right through our hands. We knew coming into this that we could do it."

That can-do opener eluded Lockport in the second. The Porters loaded the bases on back-to-back errors off the bats of junior outfielder Brittaney Gonsoulin and senior third baseman Brittany Bochenek, who delivered a sacrifice bunt that was thrown away. Schrader escaped with consecutive fielder's choices.

However, the Porters produced the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore shortstop Amanda Stanton smacked a leadoff single to center, but senior DH Rebecca Baltikas eliminated her on a fielder's choice to third. Junior second baseman Kayleigh Bertram followed with an RBI rope to the left-center fence for a double.

Go with the pitch.

Go with the best.

Go for the gold.

"I knew Schrader was going to bust me in or out and I figured anywhere she pitched it, I would have to go with it," said Bertram, who recently committed to Grand Valley State. "I wasn't trying to hit a double -- I was trying for a single. Anything could have happened today, and we knew that it was a matter of time before someone scored."

From there, though, Lockport struggled to score against Schrader (19-5). She retired seven straight after Bertram's double and eight of nine entering the eighth before walking DePaul-bound senior outfielder Katelyn Braget to start the inning. The gritty Reyes made a trifecta of fine plays to squelch the Porters' final threat.

"Oh yeah, Schrader did a great job," Lockport coach Marissa Chovanec said. "She pitched to where we had to hit it to her defense and she's a great pitcher. Their defense made great plays, their third baseman was busy over there and they kept making plays."

"We stuck with the same strategy as before," Schrader said. "We tried to throw them a little bit of everything and we mixed it up a little bit. We knew they're a good-hitting team, and it's always a good feeling knowing you're ahead. You have that confidence, and the whole team gets that confidence when you're up in a tight ballgame."

With a two-out single by Braget in the first, a two-out single by junior catcher Samantha Stanicek in the third and a two-out walk to senior outfielder Cassie Walisiak in the fourth, Lockport attempted to loosen up Schrader's grip. But the Porters realized the tight spot came from Matsui leading things off.

"It was a battle," Chovanec said. "We knew if Matsui got on she could potentially hurt us and we knew what we needed to do. I thought we did a pretty good job of executing our game plan and I was pleased with our defense. You have to give them credit. They got the job done."

Striking out 7 and allowing 6 hits and a walk in 8 innings, Shimkus (8-3) did her job for Lockport. Matsui did the most damage with a drag bunt to second in the third inning, her RBI single to center in the fifth and the finale to left-center in the eighth -- showing the power that speed with Giancarlo's aluminum can give the Southies.

Go with the slapper.

Go with the swinger.

Go for the gusto.

"Well, it all started with Krista getting on," Giancarlo said. "If she didn't get on and Jackie didn't bunt her over, none of this would have happened. I looked for my pitch, like my dad always tells me to, and it went right up the middle. I know Krista's a speed demon, and kudos to her. She's awesome."