Olsen, ‘D’ key Sandburg victory

Updated: May 28, 2011 8:34PM

What do a flamethrower, a “cookie”, and leather have in common? They all added up to Sandburg’s 13th regional softball title in 14 years.

Lora Olsen was in command from the beginning as the Eagles played great defense to win the Class 4A Shepard regional with a 7-0 win over Minooka. Sandburg will face off against host Lockport in next Wednesday’s sectional semi-final.

‘‘Since the middle of the season, Lora has been peaking,’’ Sandburg coach Jim Fabianski said. ‘‘She has intensity and tenacity that she brings everyday. She really is an example for everyone else.’’

Olson had a perfect-game going until the fifth inning when it was broken up on a bad-hop single at third baseman Jessica Perkins. The ball nearly hit the senior in the jaw but thankfully didn’t. That play was about the only one that Perkins didn’t make.

The senior made two outstanding defensive plays. Perkins snared a bullet to her left in the first inning and made a great scoop of a ground ball to her left in the second to throw the batter out.

‘‘I wasn’t thinking about the no-hitter. I was so glad that she was OK and wasn’t missing teeth after that one,’’ Olson said. ‘‘Our defense was great. The diving catch by (Deanna Barbaro) was my favorite. We used that as momentum.’’

Sandburg (26-6) led 2-0 on RBI singles by Brianna Fanning and Perkins. In the sixth inning, Barbara quelled the only threat that Minooka (29-9) presented by laying out for a soft line-drive in foul territory to end the inning. The play fired up the Sandburg bench and carried over into the bottom half of the inning.

Candice Koch, who goes by ‘‘cookie’’ to her teammates, came up with two outs and two runners aboard. The leadoff hitter worked the count full and then turned on an inside fastball for a three-run homer to right field that opened a 5-0 lead. Koch was 2-for-4 including a line-shot out that was hit right at the left-fielder.

‘‘Two pitches before, I swung and totally missed the ball,’’ Koch said. ‘‘I saw the ball early and turned on it.’’

Lexi Bryant followed Koch’s home run with a two-run shot over the center-field fence that provided the final score.

Olson gave up three hits and struck out nine in her complete-game victory. Lizzie Wojtowicz had two hits and two runs. Perkins and Olson also had a pair of hits.

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