Softball: Kelsey Borders stars in Grayslake North win

Updated: May 28, 2012 8:09PM

The person collecting admission fees when you got to the entrance to the parking lot at Antioch High School for Monday’s Class 3A softball regional championship game was not Kelsey Borders.

But if it had been, no one would be surprised, as she did everything but sell tickets to Grayslake North’s 14-4 wipeout of Lakes that vaulted the Knights (24-8-1) into Wednesday’s sectional semifinals at Lakes.

Especially if the opposition pitches to Borders.

After flying out to end a scoreless first, this is what Borders did:

■ She capped a seven-run second inning with a grand slam over the fence in center.

The blast was her sixth of the season and she said she couldn’t remember hitting a grand slam at any level of softball.

Grayslake coach Molly coach Molly Jones said she thought it was the first grand slam in school history.

■ In a five-run third inning, she capped the rally with a two-out, RBI double.

■ In the top of the fourth, she caught a pop fly and turned it into a double play.

■ In the bottom of the fifth, she sent everyone home early with a two-run, gap double that caused the slaughter rule to be invoked.

“I was just focusing on turning my back hip and hitting the ball hard,” Borders said. “We think we have a good shot at (winning the sectional) if we play our game. If we hit the ball and play good defense behind (pitcher Kristi Gandy), we’ll be fine. What we can’t do is beat ourselves.”

With this kind of hitting, it’s not likely the Knights will beat themselves.

“She always does a nice job at the plate,” said Jones of her team’s big bomber. “Lately, she’s been hitting balls right at players, so it was nice to see her have a day like she did today.”

In the other dugout, Lakes coach Bill Hammill saw his team finish 23-13 and let another opportunity at winning a regional title for the first time in school history slip away.

“It’s a hard loss,” he said. “The three girls we’re losing (Sara Braden, Jamie Dykstra, and Megan Massie) have been with me since they were freshmen. They’re special players who have been a big part of our success.”

© 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.