Things seemed dire for the Oak Park and River Forest High School softball team in its IHSA Class 4A supersectional game against Loyola Academy at the University of Illinois Chicago Flames Field. The Huskies trailed by a run in the last inning and were down to not only their potential final out of the game and season, but also their last strike.
OPRF needed a hero, and Sofia Ayala played the role perfectly, lacing a two-out single in the top of the seventh to tie the game and ultimately force extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, the Huskies’ bats went to work in a big way, scoring seven runs. OPRF defeated Loyola 10-3 and punched its ticket to the 4A semifinals for the second time in three years.
“I’m so happy for these eight seniors,” said OPRF coach J.P. Coughlin. “They’re incredible, and they’ve left a legacy in a softball program with a lot of legacy. They want their own story, and I’m blessed because I get to coach them two more games.”
Loyola (18-16), entering the game with a 12-game winning streak, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run homer from Hunter Lewis.
OPRF (29-8) used aggressiveness on the basepaths to tie the game in the second as Lyla Austin, the courtesy runner for Anna Topel, stole second and third and scored on a throwing error by Loyola catcher Chloe Takacs.
Then Leia Hammerschmidt walked, stole second, moved to third on a Lewis wild pitch, and came in on a passed ball by Takacs.
The game stayed tied until the bottom of the sixth. Moira Divane led off with a single. After Lewis was intentionally walked, Emilia Bartholomew singled to bring in Divane and give Loyola a 3-2 lead.
With one out in the seventh, Julia Henderson walked and Laila Rosenthal came in to pinch-run. With Hammerschmidt batting, Rosenthal was thrown out by Takacs on a steal attempt, leaving OPRF down to its final out.
But Hammerschmidt and Charlie Terry drew walks to keep the Huskies alive, then with two strikes, Ayala lined a single to left to bring home Hammerschmidt and tie the game 3-3.
“I’m not playing softball in college, so I was thinking this was going to be the last at-bat of my career, and I didn’t want it to be,” Ayala said. “It was me and the ball, and I wanted to give it all for my team.”
“All of us, we never stay down,” Topel said. “The energy stayed up the whole game and that’s what persevered us all the way.”
Topel retired the Ramblers in order in the bottom half, forcing extra innings.
“We were telling ourselves, “we want this so bad, and we can’t beat ourselves,’” Ayala said.
In the eighth, Elyssa Hasapis worked a walk after a ten-pitch at-bat, then scored on a double by Maura Carmody to give OPRF a 4-3 lead.
Carmody advanced to third on a passed ball, and Julie Mattiace walked. Then Topel hit a line drive off Lewis’ leg for a hit, which plated Carmody and gave the Huskies a 5-3 lead. Lewis left the game after the injury, and Mary McQuillen came on in relief for Loyola.
Henderson greeted McQuillen with a single that scored courtesy runner Bella Saylor. Hammerschmidt then hit into a fielder’s choice on which Loyola didn’t get the out, loading the bases. Then a walk to Terry brought home Austin to raise the OPRF lead to 7-3.
McQuillen got two outs on a fielder’s choice and a pop-up, but Hasapis (4-for-4) put the proverbial nail in Loyola’s coffin with a bases-clearing double.
Topel went the distance in the circle, allowing three runs (one unearned) on five hits over eight innings. She walked two and struck out one.
“I challenge anybody to find a better story in the state than Anna,” Coughlin said of his ace, who missed much of the season with an injury.
“After I got injured, I was told I most likely wasn’t going to return this season,” Topel said. “This is unreal, I can’t believe it, being here right now and pitching for my teammates.”
Up next for OPRF is Oswego, winner of the Benedictine University Supersectional over Marist, in the semifinals at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria. The game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., June 13.
“It feels amazing,” Ayala said. “I’m super-excited and proud of everyone.”