Softball: Berchtold’s 2-hitter sends Lakes past Wauconda, into sectional title game
Lakes senior Cassidy Berchtold had complete control of Thursday’s Class 3A Antioch softball sectional semifinal.
That was clear as Berchtold fired a 2-hitter with no walks and 8 strikeouts as third-seeded Lakes edged second-seeded Wauconda 2-0 at McMillen Field. But that also included Berchtold calling her entire mix of riseballs, changeups, curves and drop curves to throw 63 of her 91 pitches for strikes.
“After seeing them for so many years as I have, I figured out how to pitch to almost every single batter,” Berchtold said of facing the Northern Lake County Conference rival Bulldogs and travel ball best friend Lesleigh Reimers. “That’s what really helped me along.”
It also moved Lakes (19-14) along to a sectional championship game for the first time in history as it will try to avenge two NLCC losses to top-seeded Antioch (26-5) at 4:30 p.m. Friday. Nia Wright’s two-out RBI single in the third inning was the only run Berchtold needed.
“With Cassidy in the circle … I felt we had this game all the way,” Wright said.
“Freshman and sophomore year she didn’t like it when I called her pitches,” Lakes coach Bill Hamill said with a smile. “She said, ‘I know the hitters,’ so I let her go with calling her pitches.”
The only Wauconda (20-11) baserunners came on Alyssa Vodicka’s leadoff single in the second and Maddie May’s one-out double down the left-field line in the seventh. Berchtold got nine outs in the air with the northeast wind blowing in and was backed by errorless defense.
“She moves the ball well and a good pitcher is going to do that,” said Wauconda coach Tim Orisek after his team’s fourth consecutive sectional trip. “In the postseason you’ve got to be ready for it. We didn’t make the adjustments we needed to and got under balls.”
Wright got under a Reimers pitch for a popup to the mound in her first at-bat but lined her RBI single to left-center in the third after catcher Zoey Christian walked and courtesy runner Abby Charlton moved up on a sacrifice by shortstop Olivia Tautges. And Wright teamed with Tautges in the seventh on a two-out first-and-third play for an unearned insurance run off Reimers, who allowed just 5 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts.
First-base coach Brian Kelly had Wright go from a walk to a slight jog on a pitch and she drew a throw to second. Tautges got in under the tag on the return throw home.
“Liv did a good job of getting the backdoor of home plate on that one,” Hamill said.
“That’s the first time we ever did that,” Wright said. “Having to do that job, I wasn’t really nervous. I knew something would happen to get the run in and I was confident with Liv on third base.”
Tautges also made a nice play on Ellary Nick’s hard grounder to start the seventh before May’s double ended Berchtold’s run of 16 consecutive hitters retired. A foul out to Christian and flyout to right fielder Rae Carraro had Lakes celebrating a chance to avenge 2-0 and 4-0 losses to District 117 rival Antioch and MIchigan State-bound ace Jacey Schuler.
“We know what we have on this side of town and Jacey’s a good one, but I’ll take ‘Cass,’” Hamill said.
“I didn’t know if we would have a chance to play them again,” Berchtold said. “I’m excited to have another chance at it.”