Edwardsville gets walk-off win over Belleville East in battle of SWC softball powers

Actually, the Edwardsville High freshman infielder fell in love with the No. 9 hole on Thursday afternoon.

Antonini ripped a run-scoring double in the bottom of the seventh inning to propel the Tigers to a 4-3 walk-off win over Belleville East in a battle of Southwestern Conference softball powers at the District 7 Sports Complex.

Edwardsville (19-7 overall, 9-1 SWC) all but locked up a share of the league title. It was won or shared the last 11 conference championships.

Belleville East (20-9, 8-1) was in position to possibly claim its first outright SWC title since 2005 with a win. It beat the Tigers 4-1 in the first meeting April 9.

Both teams have several league games left, although they have already beaten their future foes this season. They will likely share the crown for the fourth successive campaign.

Antonini claimed heroine status with a ringing one-out double to left center that brought in sophomore Audrey De La Torre Cruz, who reached on a leadoff error to start the uprising.

"I knew it was a 2-2 count and I was looking for anything close," Antonini said. "That pitch, it was just right there. I saw it and decided to go with it."

Antonini has spent much of the season hitting in the No. 2 slot in the order. Tigers coach Caty Happe wanted her up top due to her speed and ability to get on base.

But just for a change, Happe move Antonini to the bottom of the order for the first time this season on Thursday.

"I figured it would be like having two leadoff hitters," Happe said. "We just wanted to try something different."

The move turned out to be a brilliant one.

Antonini reached base twice and triggered a bottom-of-the-order blitz. De La Torre Cruz and freshman Brooke Burris, in the No. 8 spot, combined to go 3-for-8 and reach base four times.

"Pretty impressive when the bottom of your order can do that," explained senior infielder Jilian Hawkes, who slammed a two-run homer in the fifth. "To watch that happen is just the greatest feeling."

The Tigers charged back after surrendering a seemingly safe 3-0 cushion heading into the sixth inning.

Edwardsville junior hurler Riley Nelson appeared in total control allowing just one hit over the first five frames.

But Belleville East, which had a seven-game winning streak snapped, rallied to tie with two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. Ashlynn Samson had the big hit in the sixth that trimmed the deficit to 3-2. Zoe Peters doubled to start the seventh. Two outs later, Abi Monroe kept the game going with an infield hit. Pitcher Olivia Hemmerle followed with another infield hit to the left side to tie the game.

"We had a great comeback there," Belleville East veteran coach Natalie Peters said. "I definitely don't think we were playing our game in the first five innings."

The Tigers, who are 105-9 in SWC play since the start of the 2015 campaign, scored in the first on back-to-back doubles by Hawkes and senior Jillian Lane. Hawkes' homer in the fifth came after Burris reached on a leadoff double.

"This was a complete team win," Happe said.

The two schools will be heavily favored to win their respective regional tournaments, which they host in less than two weeks.

Both are on a collision course to meet for a third time in a Pekin Sectional semifinal on May 28 at Belleville West High.

"You know it's always a quality game when we play them," Happe said. "It's a rivalry, but it's a fun rivalry."

Added Peters, "We've just got to get back to work and make sure the next time (we play) them, we're better."