NEWARK – Kodi Rizzo was sailing along nicely Wednesday against nonconference foe Streator until potential disaster struck the Newark junior pitcher – literally.

The Bulldogs’ No. 5 hitter, Emma Augustine, blasted a line drive off Rizzo’s thigh that left the Norsemen right-hander in agony.

“It hurt. It hurt real bad, but I didn’t want to come out of the game,” said Rizzo, who until that point had allowed only two hits through 5 2/3 innings. “I wanted to tough it out.”

She did just that by coming back in the bottom of the sixth to belt a solo home run that helped lead her team to a 6-0 victory.

Rizzo (5 2/3 IP, 2 H, 6 K, 2 BB) improved to 5-0 as Class 1A state-ranked Newark (20-1) captured its 20th victory of the season.

“Kodi couldn’t even react to that ball it was hit so hard,” Newark coach Tim Schofield said. “She doesn’t cry too often, so when she did I knew she was in a lot of pain. But I think from there, she was a little upset, and she showed what a competitor she is and really put a charge into the ball for the homer that capped off a big win for us after losing to Streator last year.”

Streator coach Louis Ondrey also was impressed by Rizzo’s ability to bounce back and her overall performance in the circle.

“She was locating well, keeping us off balance with a great changeup and to hit a homer after having to rebound from a shot like that was pretty impressive,” Ondrey said. “But I was proud of the way our girls played against a great team like Newark. I thought we hit the ball well and got some runners in scoring position. Unfortunately, we couldn’t knock them in against her in the couple of chances we had.”

Newark got to Streator sophomore pitcher Makenna Ondrey (6 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 6 K, 6 BB) in the bottom of the second with two unearned runs.

Junior Ryan Williams led off with a walk, stole second base and one out later went to third on senior Peyton Wohead’s single to left.

Then with two outs, senior Taylor Kruser’s infield knock was misplayed by the Bulldogs, which allowed Williams and Wohead to score.

The Norsemen added three more in the fourth after walks to Wohead, Kate Bromeland and Dorothy Wood led off the inning.

Rizzo (three hits) produced an RBI infield single followed by Kaitlyn Schofield’s run-scoring single to right that plated Wood. Rizzo later scored on a wild pitch that put Newark ahead 5-0.

Rizzo then worked a flawless fifth in the circle before the blast to her leg in the sixth, which brought on relief pitcher Kaitlyn Schofield as Rizzo hung tough and moved into the outfield defensively.

Rizzo almost endured more pain in the sixth, narrowly missing being struck by the first offering from Makenna Ondrey before launching her third homer of the season to deep left-center field.

“That first pitch that almost hit me really made me mad because I didn’t want to feel another ball hit me,” Rizzo said. “I saw the ball really well after that first pitch, got a good one to hit and it was a pretty special game for me getting the win and getting a homer when things didn’t seem so good after getting a shot to my leg like that. It’s good to win and I think I’ll be OK.”