The Seneca Fighting Irish softball team defeated the Bishop McNamara Fightin’ Irish 9-2 in the IHSA Class 2A Seneca Regional championship game Friday to win its third straight regional title and sixth in the last 10 years.

Hayden Pfeifer had a dominant game in both the tops and bottoms of innings with 14 strikeouts out of her 27 would-be hitters faced, while at the plate going 2 for 2 including a home run, a triple and two RBIs.

“I think everyone was just hyped up,” Pfeifer said. “Everybody was looking for another win, especially with our seniors. This group has played together for so long, and everybody was looking to keep this season going for as long as possible.”

Seneca improves to 35-2 and heads to the 2A Pontiac Sectional, where the Fighting Irish will open Tuesday at 4:30 against the winner of Saturday’s St. Bede-Prairie Central regional championship game in Fairbury.

Bishop Mac sees its season end with a mark of 22-8.

Regarding her performance against Bishop McNamara, Pfeifer and her Fighting Irish teammates believed in their coaches.

“They have been pushing us in practices the past two days to do our best, and against Reed-Custer, the same there. For the girls, I think everyone was working their butts off at practices, and we wanted this win.”

Bishop Mac’s Maddy Weiland hit a single to end Pfeifer’s streak of five consecutive strikeouts to begin the top of the third inning. Bishop McNamara got on the board when junior first baseman Rhaya DePaolo nearly hit a home run over the center-field fence to allow Weiland to score and give Bishop McNamara a 1-0 lead.

However, the lead didn’t last long, as Seneca also began hitting the ball in the third inning. After Depaolo reached over the fence to catch a foul ball for Bishop McNamara, Provance reached on a three-base error. Emma Mino hit a single to allow Provance to score and tie the game 1-1.

Pfeifer hit a two-run home run to give Seneca a 3-1 lead, and Lexie Buis hit a two-run home run of her own to extend Seneca’s lead to 5-1.

In the fifth inning, Buis was walked to load the bases for Seneca with nobody out. Senior Tessa Krull hit a line drive to extend Seneca’s lead to 7-1.

Aurora Weber and Kaylee Klunker each added RBIs to extend Seneca’s lead to 9-1.

Depaolo hit a ground-rule double that bounced over the center-field fence to begin the sixth inning. A Sophia Piggush sacrifice fly allowed Depalo to tag from third base o make the score 9-2.

Pfeifer finished off the regional championship with her 14th strikeout.

Seneca coach Brian Holman believed Seneca’s pitching has been the biggest reason for its success this season.

“I think we are comfortable with who we are,” Holman said. “We don’t get too excited, we don’t get too down, we’ve got good pitching, we’ve got good defense, we don’t walk people, we make plays.

“So far, doing simple things has won a lot of games.”

Bishop McNamara coach Jenna Arseneau believed her team fought hard throughout the game despite the season-ending loss.

“We just prepare all season; we put in the work we have to put in,” she said. ”The girls are fighters, they never give up. Seneca had a really good inning, they’re a good team. We just couldn’t fight back all the way.

“We had a couple errors, and that is always a trickle effect. We have one error, and it all just kind of goes downhill from there.”

Arseneau will miss designated player Reagan Kaner and Gabby Burnett next season, as they are graduating seniors, but she is confident about next year’s team.

“They absolutely lead our team, they have the energy, and they are the greatest people in the world,” she said. ”They will definitely be missed, but our team is very young, and I think we’re going to come back stronger.”