Crystal Lake Central‘s Ella Arana took two quick strikes in her fourth at-bat Monday, but there’s rarely a count in which a pitcher can feel good against the Tigers junior instigator.

On the third pitch of the at-bat against Prairie Ridge‘s Emma Dallas, Arana, an NCAA Division-I UIC commit, delivered the second of two straight doubles with an opposite field bullet to left-center field – later scoring her fourth run of the game.

The Tigers’ tough and determined leadoff hitter finished a perfect 4 for 4 with two doubles and four runs scored as Central topped Prairie Ridge 7-1 in a rematch of a Class 3A sectional championship game from a year ago.

With Arana leading off, the Tigers (7-4, 5-2) often feel like they have a leg up on the competition.

“She just has this confidence to her,” said junior pitcher Oli Victorine, who struck out 13 in the complete game victory. “I think she leads the team in such a great way. In the outfield, you can always hear her. When she’s up to bat, she sets the tone every time.”

Arana, who committed to UIC in December, is as pesky as they come.

“She’s a mess for the defense,” Central coach Brian Strombom said. “She had two quick strikes on her, and with the 0-2 count, she just rips the ball to left field and hits the fence on the second hop. What do you do? She just finds a way.

“She’s a great baserunner, she’s quick, smart and she’s aggressive. She really does a ton for us. And when she’s out there on base, it distracts the defense a lot. She’s kind of the instigator for everything we do.”

Arana led off the game with a single to right field and came around to score the game’s first run on a double by Cassidy Murphy (2 for 2, two doubles, two RBIs). Central ended up getting two more runs in the top of the first on a two-run, two-out single by Logan Grams.

In the second, Arana had a one-out single to center field, stole second and advanced to third as Prairie Ridge catcher Reese Vrba’s throw to second fell short of the base and went into the outfield. Arana later scored on a groundout to third base off the bat of Lily Perocho.

“I was just thinking about attacking the ball,” said Arana, who hit .505 with 18 doubles, 29 RBIs, 39 runs scored and 14 steals a year ago. “I didn’t do very good last week against Jacobs (a 5-1 loss) and I wanted to come back and just hit the ball hard. And that’s what I did.”

In addition to the two doubles each by Arana and Murphy, Perocho provided the loudest and longest hit of the day, a two-run home run to straight-away center field in the fourth to score Arana.

Arana, Perocho and Murphy, batting 1-2-3, combined for seven of the Tigers’ 10 hits, scoring six runs.

Victorine, who missed time with a knee injury and said her back was tightening up Monday, allowed just three hits in the win. She walked four to go along with her 13 strikeouts and stranded a pair of baserunners in the first, fourth and fifth innings.

Prairie Ridge leadoff hitter Kylie Carroll was 2 for 4 against Victorine. Parker Frey tallied the team’s only other hit against the Illinois commit, a solid single to right field that brought home Carroll in the bottom of the first.

But Victorine proved too difficult for the Wolves (7-4, 3-3), who last season beat Victorine and the Tigers 5-2 to win the Class 3A Sycamore Sectional final.

“When Oli’s in the circle, you know if you don’t play really great defense and score at least a few runs, it’s going to be a long day,” Prairie Ridge coach Scott Busam said. “She was spectacular today. It’s good to see her back and healthy. I don’t love seeing her do that to us, but it’s good to see some of the area’s best doing what they do best.”