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Ottawa suffers heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Dunlap in 3A softball sectional semifinal · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Ottawa suffers heartbreaking two to one loss to Dunlap in
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  three A softball sectional semifinal. Written by Brian Hoxi, this
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  article is being read by an automated voice brought to
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  you by Everlett. The Ottawa softball team fell just short
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  in Tuesday's Class three A lasal Peru Sectional semifinal against
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  Dunlap at the LP Sports Complex. The Eagles were able
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  to snap a tie game with a sacrifice fly in
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  the top of the sixth and held on for a
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  two to one win over the Pirates. Ottawa finished a
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  tremendous season at twenty two eleven, while Dunlap improved to
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  twenty eight to eight and will face lasal Peru, a
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  two zero winner over East Peoria in Tuesday's second semifinal
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  at four pm on Friday. This team, I mean, I've
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  coached a lot of these girls since they were playing
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  ten U, So to me, them being at this level
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  and being a break or two away from playing in
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  the sectional championship game isn't too shocking to me. Ottawa
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  coach Adam Lewis said his clubs now with nine consecutive
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  seasons with twenty or more wins. These girls couldn't wait
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  to practice, and even when the season started to get
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  towards the end, the passion and focus on getting better
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  never faded. This was a very fun, very special, very competitive,
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  and very coachable group all season. Ottawa jumped out early
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  as junior pitcher Addie Russell struck out the side in
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  order in the top of the first, before freshman leadoff
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  batter Teagan de Reef blasted a one to one pitch
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  from Dunlap. Senior Sutton sent Toni well over the left
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  field wall for a solo homer. You're right, we couldn't
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  have drawn up a better start to the game, Lewis said.
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  I thought almost all of our at bats today were
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  good ones. We worked the count, fouled off pitches, and
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  really made Santoni work for her outs. Dunlap was able
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  to tie the game in the fourth when lefty Addison
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  Reid slapped a base hit to left, moved to seconds
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  on a sacrifice bunt, and with two outscored on a
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  single flared to write by Santoni. The Eagles then took
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  the lead for good. In the sixth, Reid sliced a
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  triple to left that was just out of our reach
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  of diving left fielder Reese Purcell and scored on a
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  sacrifice fly to write by Gabrielle. Ottawa had runners in
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  scoring position in the fourth, fifth, and sixth, but was
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  zero for six in those situations. Russell finished scattering six hits,
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  allowing two earned runs, with no walks and nine strikeouts. Santoni,
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  a University of Illinois Sidney, gave up just four hits,
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  two to Percell, including a double, walked four and struck
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  out ten. I felt like Addie was beyond great for us,
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  Lewis said, she was locked in and I don't think
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  she gave up even one hard hit ball all game,
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  other than maybe one or two pitches. She hit her
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  location and she made a number of really good pitches
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  in pressure situations. Ottawa will have all but recent graduates
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  Aubrey Sullivan, Riley Harstad, and Avery Lee back next spring.
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  The best memory from this season is that this team
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  is always having fun. Sullivan said, today didn't work out
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  like we wanted, and it's sad right now, but I
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  couldn't have asked for a better senior season playing softball.
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  We were able to win a fourth straight regional championship,
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  and I couldn't be prouder to be part of this team.
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  We just weren't able to get that next hit we
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  were hoping for. As much as she'll miss the wins
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  and competition, for Harstead, it will be the moments spent
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  with her teammates away from the field that will stick
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  with her the most, from trips to away games to
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  flipping the switch once game time arrived. She said this
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  season's team had the perfect balance of fun and focus.
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  I'll definitely miss the bus rides to games. Harstead said,
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  we were always loud and really just hyping each other up.
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  Like Aubrey said, we are always having fun. Softball is
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  what we love. But what I love best about this
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  team is how we were able to switch gears, get
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  ready to go, and lock in when the time came.
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  This year has been a blast fighting through the emotions
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  that come with the end of a memorable season. Lee
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  said the bonds formed with her teammates are what she'll
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  cherish most about this year's team. I'm just going to
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  miss my teammates and how much fun we all had
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  being together. Lee said, this year was so much fun.
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  I'm just really sad it had to end.