When St. Charles East’s Eden Corcoran suffered a broken collarbone in practice just after the season opener, she immediately feared the worse.
Not only would the left fielder likely miss the rest of her senior season, but she isn’t planning on playing in college either. Her career was in the balance.
“In the beginning of the season, I was told that I was done for the rest of the time,” Corcoran said. “I scheduled physical therapy like three times a week and really worked at it.
“The surgery really helped. Now it’s sturdier than ever. I tried to get back as fast as I could. Now that I’m back, I’m really happy that I did that.”
The Saints are happy too. Corcoran’s leadoff triple in the top of the sixth inning Tuesday, followed by a sacrifice fly from Hayden Sujack, gave St. Charles East its first lead in an eventual 3-2 victory over the host Vikings in the Class 4A Fremd Sectional semifinals in Palatine.
The Saints (22-15) hung on to earn a berth in Friday’s 4:30 p.m. sectional championship game against Wednesday’s semifinal winner between St. Charles North (22-9) or South Elgin (28-4).
Makayla Van Dinther went the distance in the circle for St. Charles East (22-15), striking out seven and allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk. Morgan Beers added an RBI and threw out a runner at the plate from center field. Holly Smith scored twice and Addison Wolf had two hits.
Corcoran’s return has lengthened the Saints’ lineup and also has coincided with an offensive uptick for the whole team in the three weeks she has been back in the batting order.
“She’s been super steady at the plate ever since she came back, consistently moving the ball,” St. Charles East coach Jarod Gutesha said. “She’s playing like she didn’t miss the entire season.
“To have her at the top of the order and then have Hayden there and Addison after that, it’s a lineup the can generate some runs.”
Corcoran’s leadoff triple in the sixth came after the Saints tied the game in the fifth and Van Dinther slammed the door in the bottom of the half of the inning.
“I really just wanted to support my team,” Corcoran said. “I wasn’t there for the majority of the season. I just kind of wanted to be there for them, especially in the postseason.
“When I hit that, rounding the bases, I wanted to hype everyone up — get everyone going.”
Corcoran pointed to the bottom of the fifth as the crucial turning point of the game.
Van Dinther gave up a leadoff homer in the first, but she settled in from there. After she picked up that 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, momentum started to shift.
“We could definitely tell as a team,” Corcoran said. “Makayla was pitching great the entire time. We could all tell after that we were all in it and they were starting to shut down.”
The Saints added an insurance run in the seventh, which turned out to be crucial.
Fremd (28-6) cut the deficit to 3-2 on a ball hit to Corcoran, who claims she made the catch with a diving attempt. The umpires thought otherwise. After everything was sorted out, the Vikings had two on and one out. Van Dinther stuck out the final two batters, however, to end the game.
“I think we did a good job of bouncing back from that,” Van Dinther said. “We talked as a team that we’ve got this, we’re not giving up now, we’re just worried about the next pitch. And that was it.”
Corcoran doesn’t know how many pitches she’s got left in her career. With the season suddenly salvaged, though, she’s soaking it all in.
“This is my final go,” Corcoran said. “I’m not playing travel ball this summer. I’m not playing in college. I’ve played my entire life. I’m going full out for everything. This is my time.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
