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Ella Jacobs pitches Sycamore softball past Ottawa, to Interstate 8 title · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Ella Jacobs pitches Sycamore softball past Ottawa to Interstate eight title.
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  Written by Brian Hoxy, this article is being read by
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  an automated voice brought to you by Everlet. After walking
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  her second batter during the third inning Tuesday, Sycamore senior
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  pitcher Bella Jacobs called time out and asked for a
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  band aid for a blister on the thumb of her
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  pitching hand. It's something I've had to deal with in
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  the past, Jacob said. It was making it tough to
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  not only get a good grip on the ball, but
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  also release it the way I need and want to.
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  I tried a band aid, but it just didn't work.
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  The pain wasn't bad, it was just annoying. While finishing
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  the game with four walks, Jacobs battled through the adversity,
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  holding host Ottawa to just four hits and striking out
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  eleven in a two zero softball victory at Peck Park
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  on Ottawa's south side. The triumph clinched the outright Interstate
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  eight conference title for Sycamore eighteen four eight one. The
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  Pirates fifteen seven five y three had a six game
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  win streak snapped when blisters happen. I just have to
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  find a way around it. Jacob said, I have two
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  different wind ups, so when this happens and I have
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  trouble finding my release point, I switched things up. I
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  wasn't one hundred percent today, but I feel like I'm
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  good about pushing through on days like today. The game
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  was resumed after Monday storms suspended play in the top
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  of the first with the Spartans having the bases loaded
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  and no outs. Upon the game's resumption Tuesday, Ottawa pitcher
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  Addie Russell retired the visitors in order with no run scoring.
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  Sycamore did, however, score two runs in the second thanks
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  to a trio of pirates, fielding miscues, a walk, and
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  a wild pitch. There are days where you just have
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  to gut it out and find a way. Sycamore coach
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  Jill Carpenter said. It doesn't have to be pretty. You
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  just have to have more runs than the other team
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  when it's all said and done. I thought we hit
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  some balls hard, but we just didn't do that when
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  we needed to. The first inning was a momentum killer
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  right at the start, but the key was we didn't
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  allow Ottawa to score in the bottom of the inning
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  and the top. The second just felt like the start
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  of a new game. Ottawa best threat came in the
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  fourth when Riley Hearst had let off with a single
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  to center field and after a foul out, Reese Purcell walked.
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  Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch,
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  but Jacobs was able to wiggle out of trouble with
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  back to back strikeouts. Bella finds and has for four years,
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  a way to pitch around adversity, Carpenter said, with the
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  blister on her thumb, she had to make some adjustments,
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  and she did. She was really good today despite the situation.
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  Ottawa brought the tying run to the plate in the
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  bottom of the seventh. Teagan Dharif tripled to the fence
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  and right center with two outs, but Jacobs finished things
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  off by inducing a fly out to left and this
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  in Armstrong, Kyrie, Lance, Faith Hile, and Callie Countrymen all
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  singled for Sycamore. Piper Lewis and Jocelyn Rose recorded hits
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  along with Dereef and Harsted for Ottawa. Russell suffered the
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  tough luck loss, scattering four hits with no earned runs
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  while walking one and striking out five. This was very
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  similar to our first game where both teams had the
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  same amount of hits, but we just weren't able to
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  put anything really together. Ottawa coach Adam Lewis said, I
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  thought Addie threw the ball well today. It's funny that
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  her strength of getting misfits and off the end of
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  the back contact can sometimes lead to unfortunate hits or
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  misplayed balls. We had a couple of those in the
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  third inning, and we just have to do a better
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  job of attacking the ball defensively instead of letting it
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  eat us up in those situations. Both teams are right
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  back in action on Wednesday, with Sycamore hosting Morris. Ottawa
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  travels to take on Rochelle