Magical Ramblers’ run ends with late-game dramatics in state’s final eight

Loyola Academy softball knows a thing or two about turnarounds, and the Ramblers found themselves on the wrong side of a big one Monday evening.

Within a strike of heading home multiple times, Oak Park-River Forest tied the game in the seventh inning and exploded for seven runs in the extra eighth inning to fell Loyola Academy 10-3 in an IHSA Class 4A supersectional June 9 at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Ramblers senior Emilia Bartholomew said the Huskies’ seventh-inning rally was a gut punch.

“For me, my heart was racing. It was a lot of pressure,” she said. “I think we fell apart, maybe. For me, I was jittery. I was in the moment and then it slipped away, and I feel like our momentum went downhill from there. That’s how softball works.”

Facing an 0-2 count with two outs in the top of the seventh, OPRF’s Sofia Ayala roped a single into center field to tie the game at 3-3.

Loyola was retired quietly in their half of the seventh, and in the top of the eighth, the Huskies strung together four hits and two walks to plate seven and blow the game open.

The Huskies’ second hit of the inning struck Ramblers star pitcher Hunter Lewis in the leg, forcing her removal from the game.

On the day, OPRF batters walked nine times, and six of those baserunners came around to score.

That was just one facet of Monday’s game that coach Leah Herlocker felt was out of character for her Ramblers.

“I think we came out a little bit different today,” Herlocker said. “It is disappointing because I think we looked like a different team today; that’s not the way we have been playing. We started out wavering and the turn of events (in the seventh) hit morale and without Hunter in the circle, we knew it would be hard for us. It just wasn’t our day today.”

Early in the game, Lewis continued her two-way onslaught that has powered Loyola’s brilliant postseason run. Her first-inning home run — her third in three games — staked her team a two-run lead.

OPRF fired back in the second, scoring two runs after a pair of walks, three total stolen bases and two wild pitches.

It was clear early that the Huskies wanted to put runners on base and then be aggressive on the basepaths — a strategy that was effective for two innings until Loyola’s sophomore catcher Chloe Takacs settled in.

Takacs threw out three straight baserunners — one at third in the third and sixth innings, and at second in the seventh — to help keep the game 2-2.

“She’s really stepped up all year,” Herlocker said of her catcher. “She’s a leader on the field and today was no exception. They challenged her and she stepped up and met that challenge and started gunning them down. That was awesome.”

At the plate, Loyola was putting the bat on the ball, recording no strikeouts through seven innings, but it rarely strung hits together.

That changed in the seventh.

Moira Divane smacked a singled and OPRF intentionally walked Lewis to bring Bartholomew, a UIC recruit, to the dish. She promptly ripped a single into left field to score Divane and give her team a late lead.

“That really fired me up,” Bartholomew said of OPRF walking Lewis. “The first time they did it (in the third inning), I was like ‘Come on, let’s go’ and didn’t get the result (a line out to third base). The next time I knew if they are going to do that I’m going to make them pay for that. My competitiveness came out.”

The Ramblers advantage didn’t hold, though, and the Huskies are off to the state’s final four June 13-14 at Illinois State University.

The loss ends Loyola’s 12-game winning streak that saw them win regional and sectional trophies for the first time since 2009 and just the third time in program history.

Prior to the season turnaround in early May, the Ramblers were 6-16, but Herlocker said the Ramblers knew something more was lying in wait and remained close all the while.

“They’ve seen the highs of highs and the lows of lows and through it all they are best buddies and have these incredible friendships and these incredible memories that they are always going to have to look back on,” she said. “… Those down moments bonded them and they really got to be friends. If you’re not friends, you start to turn on each other and they never once did that. They stayed together through thick and thin.”

The Ramblers will lose starters Bartholomew, four-year center fielder Gwen Coleman and third baseman Claire Tipshrany to graduation, but are slated to bring back several other starters: Divane (freshman, second base), Takacs (sophomore, catcher), Maggie Herbert (sophomore, outfield), Abby Murphy (junior, outfield) JuJu Miller (junior, shortstop), and of course, Lewis, a junior pitcher and Northwestern commit whom Bartholomew took time to praise in her postgame interview.

“Hunter is a huge part of who our team was this year,” she said. “It’s amazing I got to play with her. She made this season so special for our final year. She’s a dog, she’s a beast, she’s one of the biggest reasons we are here. Her pitching, her hitting, she’s insane. On the field, off the field, she’s just amazing.”

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