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Sports

Softball: Hinsdale South Rallies Late, Upsets Leyden

Hinsdale South 9, Leyden 5: The Hornets score eight unanswered runs to win the conference opener against the Eagles.

Better late than never. 

, behind for most of the game, caught fire after an error in the bottom of the fifth and turned the game around Tuesday. They scored eight unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth, beating undefeated Leyden 9-5 in their conference opener. 

The Hornets (5-5, 1-0) struggled in the opening innings on offense and defense. Left fielder Rachel Mozdzen misfielded a ball on a base hit in the top of the first, scoring the first run of the game. In the top of the fourth, second baseman Dana Gaetano committed two errors, allowing the second run to come across. 

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On offense, the Hornets stranded four runners—three of them in scoring position—in the first four innings and scored only one run. 

The Eagles (8-1, 0-1) broke the game wide open in the fifth with three straight hits off of pitcher Jessica Andree, knocking her out of the game. Reliever Amy Narotsky surrendered a double to make it a 5-1 game before settling down and getting out of the inning with no further damage. 

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The Hornets, with two outs and a runner on second in the bottom half of the fifth, looked to be heading to the sixth down four with no chance. Center fielder Dana Capocci hit a grounder to Leyden third baseman Moira Quinlan. The ball went through her legs and Hornets third baseman Lindsey Schwarz scored on the play. 

The Hornets went on the attack. Eagles starter Morgan Maize surrendered four straight hits and scored four runs, giving the Hornets a 6-5 lead. They might have added more if DH Aleah Tyrcha hadn’t been tagged out on a questionable ruling by the umpires. 

“I tell the girls that when you stomp on a Hornet, they don’t die,” Hornets coach Kelly Van Hout said. “The girls always give a 100 percent effort out on the field.” 

The Eagles tried to get the momentum back in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs. The inning should have ended after DH Jessica Dubrock interfered on a defensive play by shortstop Cecie Portillo on her way to third. Instead of giving in to the bad call, the Hornets fought through it and got shortstop April Markowski to ground out to end the inning. 

Capocci, Portillo and first baseman Cori Coleman added RBI hits in the bottom of the sixth to give the Hornets a 9-5 lead. Narotsky finished strong in the seventh, securing the upset win. 

Nine different players had at least one hit for the Hornets, and Portillo and Coleman had two RBI each. 

“This is a fighting team,” Van Hout said. “They never give up.” 

The Hornets play at Oak Park-River Forest on Thursday.

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