Heads up play fuels C-G

Cary-Grove catcher Sarah Leudo tags Jacobs pinch runner Kaitlyn Woloszyk out at home plate Thursday in the second inning of the Girls 4A Guilford Sectional semifinal in Rockford. (Randy Stukenberg - For the Northwest Herald)

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ROCKFORD – With no outs in the top of the fifth, Emma Gaulke suddenly realized that she could break for home plate from third base relatively unnoticed.

The Cary-Grove senior shortstop had stopped at third after hitting a two-run single and taking two bases on a Jacobs fielding error during Thursday’s IHSA Class 4A Guilford Sectional semifinal.

But as Jacobs’ players went to talk with pitcher Marissa Lombardo, Gaulke realized the Golden Eagles hadn’t called timeout and the play still was alive.

She sprinted home for the fifth run of the frame in a play that typified C-G’s postseason, which will continue after a 5-0 victory against the Eagles that sets up a sectional final meeting at 3 p.m. Saturday with DeKalb.

The Trojans have taken advantage of nearly every mistake their opponents have made during the playoffs, including scoring the two go-ahead runs in the regional final on a wild pitch.

With their knack for sharp baserunning and on-field intensity, it’s unlikely C-G will waste an opportunity on an unforced error for the remainder of the postseason.

“No one was there,” Gaulke said of the play Thursday. “They hadn’t called timeout or anything. I just went for it.”

It was an uncharacteristic lapse for a Jacobs team that had been keyed into every play to that point.

Lombardo (12-6) allowed only two hits in the first four innings before allowing a leadoff double to C-G second baseman Jamie Deering in the fifth. Third baseman Sara Markelonis followed with a bloop single just behind the circle.

Right fielder Eleni Polites laid down a bunt and beat it out to load the bases, and center fielder Alexis Haley drove in Deering with a single to shallow left field, getting C-G (30-1 overall) on the board with no outs.

Gaulke then smacked a single to left that drove in Markelonis and Polities for the 3-0 cushion, and Haley came home on the play when the ball was bobbled in left field, making it 4-0 and allowing Gaulke to take two extra bases.

Gaulke stood for just a moment on third before she saw her chance to score.

“Eleni has taught her a lot [about baserunning],” C-G coach Tammy Olson said. “She saw that and we went with it. She did a great job.”

Jacobs (21-12) had only one legitimate chance to score against C-G pitcher Lindsay Efflandt, who shut them out on one hit. In the bottom of the second inning, Lombardo hit a one-out single to center field and her courtesy runner, Kaitlyn Woloszyk, went to second on Maggie Hansen’s sacrifice bunt.

Second baseman Nikki Chapa reached on a C-G throwing error to first, and Woloszyk sprinted to third and then home, but Polites scooped up the ball in shallow right field and threw out Woloszyk as she tried to score for the final out.

“It may have helped us turn the game around,” Lombardo said. “But you can’t go back and think ‘What if?’ ”