The Henry-Senachwine softball team couldn’t get much going early against Putnam County pitcher Kennedy Holocker.

The Mallards managed just one hit through the first three innings and when they had runners on second and third in the first inning, Henry stranded them.

Junior Brynna Anderson sparked Henry in the fourth.

With the Mallards trailing by a run, Anderson launched a solo home run to center field to start the inning.

“I had two strikes on me so I started to crowd the plate because I thought she’d pull me outside,” Anderson said. “It was a little outside, but I got ahold of it. It felt good to pick my team up and get some energy started for us.

“When exciting plays happen, I think it brings the whole team up. One good thing happens and then everything kind of follows.”

It did for No. 2-seeded Henry as it scored once more in the fourth and added two more runs in the fifth to go on to a 4-1 win over the No. 7 Panthers in a Class 1A Henry-Senachwine Regional semifinal in Henry.

“I think we played well,” Anderson said. “We had a little slow start. You get a little nervous when you’re down one, but I had confidence that we would come back and get our hits going.”

The Mallards (14-10) advance to the championship game at 5 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday’s semifinal between No. 3 Midland (15-14) and No. 6 Amboy (10-10).

Henry beat Midland 9-1 and 10-4 in Tri-County Conference play.

The Mallards are looking to win three regional titles in a row for the first time in program history. It would make softball the first program in school history to win three regional plaques in a row, according to the IHSA website.

“I hope to come out with a win and get three regionals in a row,” Henry senior Rachel Eckert said. “That’d be pretty cool and make history.

“It’s special (to play the regional at home), especially for my senior year.”

Eckert made sure the Mallards had time to get the offense going as she held the Putnam County bats in check.

The Panthers scored in the top of the first when Alexis Margis doubled, moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a passed ball.

After that, Eckert limited the Panthers to just two hits and three base runners over the final six innings.

“She has just gotten stronger and stronger as we’ve gone on, in the last two weeks even,” Henry coach Lori Stenstrom said. “I thought she threw extremely well. She hit her spots, had good spin and got the job done.”

Eckert got stronger as the game went on, throwing four perfect innings to finish the game. Eckert finished with 12 strikeouts and did not walk a batter.

“I just want it really bad,” Eckert said about getting stronger as the game progressed. “Being my senior year, I don’t want the season to end.”

Eckert’s pitching allowed the Henry bats to get going. After Anderson’s homer, Addy Robbins had a slow roller single, Eckert laid down a sac bunt and Harper Schrock ripped a hard grounder through the left side for an RBI single.

In the fifth, Alaina Sprague doubled and Brooklynn Thompson reached on a fielder’s choice before a deep fly ball by Anderson with two outs was misplayed in center field, allowing both to score.

“I thought we played really well offensively,” Stenstrom said. “Our timing was just off I think in the beginning. It took us once through the order to get going. We just seemed a little anxious, kind of hitting out front a little bit.

“Brynna’s homer got everybody excited. Once somebody does something good, then others follow. It kind of gets the bal rolling.”

Margis had two of Putnam County’s three hits with Ella Irwin also singling. Holocker took the loss in the circle as she gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

“I thought we played well,” PC coach Adrianna Rolando said. “This was our third time seeing them. All I asked them to do is show up a little better every single time and fight to the last inning, and that’s what I saw. I thought we put quite a few good balls in play that they just made a little bit better of a play on.”

The Panthers finish 11-18. PC graduates Ella Pyszka, Ella Irwin and Sydney Samek but return the other seven starters from Wednesday’s game.

“I thought from the beginning of the year until now we’ve grown immensely,” Rolando said. “We had to kind of do a reset in the middle of the year. It just wasn’t quite going our way. The girls came together and we did some self evaluation. Since then, it’s been so much fun and they’ve just come out and competed for each other.

“It’s exciting (looking to the future). The young girls don’t get a chance to come here and watch the game. They get thrown into the deep end and you hope they swim, and they did. Some of our younger ones came up big for us in big games and that’s exciting to see because they’re going to get to do that a couple more years. It takes the pressure off of them a little bit. The next time they come back, they won’t be young, it won’t be new and it’ll be a little more fun for them.”