As Thursday’s Class 2A Bishop McNamara Regional semifinal between the host Fightin’ Irish and Herscher developed, McNamara leadoff hitter Nick Pignatiello began to notice a trend.

In his first two at-bats, Pignatiello saw first-pitch fastballs; but on his third, he saw a curveball on the first pitch. So when he stepped to the plate with ducks on the pond and one out in the sixth inning of a tied contest, he waited for that offspeed offering again.

Pignatiello got it and perfectly placed a bloop single to shallow center for the go-ahead, two-run hit in McNamara’s 7-5 win.

“They saw that I could attack the fastball,” Pignatiello said. “The last two at-bats started with curveballs. Bringing in a new pitcher (Brock Berns), I knew it was going to be the same thing.”

The Fightin’ Irish (21-8) will look to make it back-to-back regional titles when they face 2024 and 2025 Class 1A state champion Marquette at 10 a.m. on Saturday at McNamara.

The Tigers saw their third straight season of 20-plus wins end at 25-10-1.

A game that saw four lead changes almost had another just a half-inning before Pignatiello’s eventual game-winner. After Preston Payne got the Irish through 5⅔ innings, senior ace Callaghan O’Connor took to the rubber to face Tigers leadoff hitter Gaige Brown with Brock Berns on second and two outs in the top of the sixth.

Brown grounded the first pitch he saw for what looked like the end of the inning. But after an errant throw to first sent Berns dashing home, O’Connor grabbed the ball off of a favorable bounce off the brick wall past the Herscher dugout and fired to catcher Braylon Ricketts, who tagged a diving Berns at the dish to keep the game tied.

“Honestly it was kind of a blur,” O’Connor said. “I was turning, and I thought I missed by a wide margin. I threw it super sidearm and got scared right when I released it. But I saw where he was out of the corner of my eye and knew as long as I got it near Braylon, he had time to go get him. And it was an awesome tag by Bray.”

A marquee matchup featuring a pair of consistently competitive nonconference rivals, O’Connor scored the game’s first run after he singled, moved to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first.

But after Cam Baker launched a two-run blast in the second and Colton Carson smoked a two-run double in the third, the Irish faced an early 4-1 deficit. They took advantage of another Herscher error that allowed O’Connor to score in the third and then reclaimed their lead when Nolan Andrews scored on a wild pitch and Pignatiello hit the first of his pair of two-run singles for a three-run fourth.

Brown opened the fifth by making it to third on an Irish error, quickly scoring an at-bat later on a Tanner Jones single to tie things back up at 5-5. But through the ups and downs, the Irish never panicked, and were rewarded for their tenacity when Pignatiello’s blooper found grass in the sixth.

“I’m really proud of our guys for being resilient,” Irish coach Aaron Fuerst said. “Baker’s home run early, we kind of got punched in the mouth. Sometimes in playoff baseball, that can go the wrong way. We just stuck with it, stuck with our approach at the plate, battled all day long, came back and found a way to win.”

Pignatiello was 2 for 4 with four RBIs. O’Connor went 2 for 3 with a pair of runs and earned the save after allowing a hit and a walk and striking out a batter over the final 1⅓ innings. Nolan Andrews and Michael Clark had a hit and two runs apiece.

Payne allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits, a walk and six strikeouts in 5⅔ innings. The junior credited a Herscher lineup with no weak spots for making him battle on each of the 104 pitches he threw and also appreciated one of the largest crowds the Irish have played in front of all season for providing the energy that a matchup of such strong caliber deserved.

“I knew at our home field our fans would come out, their fans would come out,” he said. “Getting big hits, strikeouts, that first inning when we got those three pop outs right away, it fuels you. I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline rush maybe, but it just makes you want to punch a wall. That’s how I feel. But you’ve got to stay composed too.”

Jones allowed seven runs (five earned) on seven hits, two walks and four strikeouts in five innings before Berns allowed a hit in a scoreless inning. Jones was also 3 for 4 with a run and RBI apiece. Dylan Bayston had a pair of hits, and Brown scored a pair of runs.

While several of their nine seniors were on the 2024 team that won a regional title, the Tigers saw their seniors graduate without another despite a combined 54 wins the last two years. And while coach Eric Regez saw his team show some fight after falling behind early, he saw the Irish do the same thing late.

“It’s just how it’s supposed to work,” Regez said. “It’s not supposed to easy. As fate has it, here we are going against a tough opponent in round one, but that’s just how it works. ...

“They did a great job with resiliency. We showed some comeback ability when we were down 1-0, but at the same time they did as well.”

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Bishop McNamara's Braylon Ricketts, right, tags Herscher's Brock Berns out at home plate during the Class 2A Bishop McNamara Regional semifinal Thursday, May 28, 2026. (Mason Schweizer)