Aurora Central Catholic pitcher Corina Maratea felt more anger than pain when she was struck by a ground ball off the bat of Marengo’s Ellie White in the bottom of the third inning Friday.

The one-hopper hit the Chargers senior ace squarely in the right hip and the ball got away, allowing runners from second and third base to score.

Maratea bent over in discomfort but stayed in the game.

From that point on, she was lights out.

Seventh-seeded Aurora Central Catholic scored four unanswered runs in support of its pitcher and went on to upset third-seeded Marengo 4-3 and claim the Class 2A Marian Central Regional title in Woodstock, the program’s first since 2019.

The Chargers (10-20) advance to face top-seeded Stillman Valley in a Marengo Sectional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“In the moment, it was kind of scary,” said Maratea, who gave up two earned runs on five hits with 12 strikeouts and a walk in the complete game. “I was more mad about the runs scoring.

“I could have fielded it, but it was just too fast.”

Maratea, who surpassed 500 career strikeouts this season and is the school’s all-time winningest pitcher, allowed only one baserunner, a one-out single by Allie Tucker, after the third inning.

Maratea struck out the final two batters of the sixth, first two batters of the seventh and fielded a grounder for the last out, throwing over to first baseman Grace Grunloh.

“She’s just a leader out there, she’s a workhorse,” said ACC co-coach Izzy Hernandez, who was on the 2019 team that won a regional. “She’s really stepped up into her role, she’s been amazing for us.”

White, Marengo’s workhorse pitcher, finished with nine strikeouts and three walks in seven innings while allowing four runs (two earned) on only four hits.

White, a senior, was asked to throw the bulk of the innings for the Indians this season. Friday’s game was her 35th start of the season.

“It was a lot to take on. I knew how much I was going to pitch and honestly I enjoyed every bit of it,” White said. “I like being the one out there for everyone. Everyone was positive and cheered me on. I think I grew a lot this season, learning how to throw so much and just being a leader.”

Marengo freshman Abby Balmes put the Indians ahead 1-0 in the second inning on a one-out single to left field to score White. In the third, White’s hot shot off the hip of Maratea scored Gabby Christopher and Ari Rodriguez for a 3-0 lead.

The Chargers got two runs in the top of the fourth on a infield RBI hit by Agelena Russo and a steal of home by McKayla Edwards, cutting Marengo’s lead to 3-2. In the fifth, No. 9 hitter Meghan Buckley reached first base on a dropped third strike and came around to score on a wild pitch.

That same inning, the Chargers’ No. 1 hitter, Grace Grunloh, ripped a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Morgan Vaghy to give ACC its first lead.

“The last four years, we’ve come so close,” said Grunloh, a four-year varsity player, along with Maratea and Vaghy. “Last year we played Marengo in the (regional final) and lost to them. We all wanted it. We started off 0-7 (this year), and we had to prove a lot of people wrong. Nobody expected this from us.”

Christopher, Allie Tucker, Rodriguez, White and Balmes each had a hit against Maratea, all singles. Christopher, the team’s all-time home run and RBI leader, added a stolen base.

Balmes was one of three freshmen, along with Tucker and Emma Anderson, starting for the Indians (19-18) on Friday.

“She (Maratea) did have some good spin, but I think a lot of it was in our heads,” Balmes said. “She was probably one of the faster pitchers we faced, but it was a lot of pressure. We were nervous because we didn’t want the season to end.”

The Indians were hoping to win their 17th regional title in 19 seasons.

“I’m disappointed in the outcome, but I’m not disappointed in the kids,” Marengo coach Dwain Nance said. “They fought hard, and they showed a lot of fight all year. ... You look at the box (score) and you’d think we’re right there. We just made a lot of little mistakes and they capitalized on those. We just didn’t do enough.”