Jaelynn Anthony’s near no-hitter sends Oswego past Marist back to IHSA state tournament

LISLE – Just win, baby.

Sure, Jaelynn Anthony was feeling the moment Monday.

Seventh inning, huge crowd under the lights. A no-hitter in the last inning, a trip to state hanging in the balance.

And yet the Oswego junior did not allow herself to get caught up in herself.

When she lost the no-hitter with one out to go, Anthony turned around, looked at her defense and the scoreboard, and raised one finger to signify one more out.

“I’m not thinking about myself and my one-hitter. I really could care less about the one-hitter,” Anthony said. “I’m here for my team. I’m here to win as a team.”

She was magnificent in making sure that happened.

Anthony, a Purdue recruit, came a strike away from pitching a no-hitter. She struck out six as Oswego beat Marist 5-1 in a matchup of two of the top three ranked teams in the state in the Class 4A Benedictine University Supersectional.

Oswego (36-2), third in Class 4A last year in the program’s first state appearance, advances to play Oak Park-River Forest in a 5:30 p.m. state semifinal Friday in Peoria.

“We’re going to win,” Anthony said. “Third place is not for us. First place.”

Anthony (20-1), who retired 15 consecutive batters at one point, was an out away from a no-hitter with a runner at second in the seventh.

The count ran full to Marist’s Layla Peters, who lined a clean single to center to break up the no-hitter and shutout.

“I knew I could do it, but I was not settling for them not to hit the ball,” Anthony said. “I knew they were going to hit the ball. It’s just how the ball rolled. She hit a great ball. But I didn’t expect to throw a no-hitter.”

Anthony walked the next batter, then got a grounder to Adalynn Fugitt at second to end the masterful pitching performance.

How good?

Consider that defending state runner-up Marist (35-3) had scored 348 runs over 37 games coming in. The last time the Marist program was shut out? March 22, 2023, by Lemont’s Sage Mardtjetko.

Anthony did issue five walks, but coaxed 12 ground-ball outs, and her infield was flawless behind her. Kennedy Gengler made a diving stop and throw of a missile from Marist’s Soleil Tate in the fourth, and Aubriella Garza stabbed a wicked one-hopper at third and made a true throw to second for the first out of the seventh.

“This is the best that I’ve ever seen Jae pitch,” Oswego co-coach Annie Scaramuzzi said. “She attacked the zone, she worked to the zone that the umpire was giving her and she mixed speeds so well.

“My favorite part was how efficient she was. She went right at hitters, no matter where she was in the lineup. Our defense made plays that gave her confidence.”

Anthony did wobble early, walking two of the first three batters she faced.

But she got back-to-back grounders to Garza to get out of the first inning, starting the stretch of 15 straight retired.

“Just had to take a couple deep breaths,” Anthony said. “I’m going to walk people. It’s not like I’m perfect. Just reset within myself.”

Anthony, who tossed shutouts in both regional wins and broke Oswego’s single-season win record in the sectional final, also pitched to the lineup she was facing.

“They’re a good hitting team, I knew that any ball that I was going to place on the plate was going to get hit so I was working a ball off. Rise ball was a bit high, but it worked for some of them,” Anthony said. “My curveball and my fastball, just chucking it in there.”

Her catcher, Oswego senior Kiyah Chavez, noticed.

“Jae was throwing fast this game,” Chavez said. “You could tell that girl was determined.”

And she got the support she needed.

Oswego scored a run in the first on a two-out Rikka Ludvigson bases-loaded walk, then chased Tate with three runs in the second.

Chavez hit a laser double to the gap to score Savannah Page, who singled to lead off, and Garza’s sacrifice fly scored Fugitt.

With two outs courtesy runner Bella Lisle scored on a wild pitch for a 4-0 lead.

“We said going into this game that we need to take the momentum early and run with it,” Scaramuzzi said. “I think that relieved a little of the pressure on Jae.”

Chavez, who usually is run for, did plenty of running in the fourth.

The Iowa commit lined a single to right, which was over-run by the right fielder. Chavez kept chugging past second base, and when the throw to third sailed high, she came home for a 5-0 lead.

“I pick up [Oswego third base coach Tiffany] Murphy, her arm is still going, and it’s like alright, we’re going,” Chavez said. “I don’t run the bases, but this game I’m laying it all out there.”

No surprise to Chavez that her and Ludvigson’s at-bats, Anthony’s pitching and Garza’s defense helped key the win.

“I told Jaelynn at one point this is going to be a core four game – me, Jae, Aubriella and Rikka," Chavez said. “The bottom of the lineup has pulled us through the last few games. It was our turn to pick things up.”