Softball: Richmond-Burton defeats Marengo in 10 innings, takes control of KRC race

MARENGO – Richmond-Burton sophomore Sydney Hird led off the top of the 10th inning against Marengo with one job: get on base.

The second baseman came through for her team when she lined a hard hit off the glove of Marengo shortstop Courtney Jasinski, setting up the Rockets for a big inning.

Hird was moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Madison Kunzer and went to third on a wild pitch. The next batter, Adrianna Portera, battled and scored Hird on an RBI groundout to third base, giving the Rockets the lead for good.

Junior first baseman Norah Spittler later added her third RBI single of the game, and R-B went on to beat Marengo, 5-3, in 10 innings in their Kishwaukee River Conference game Wednesday.

[ Photos: Marengo vs. Richmond-Burton softball ]

With the victory, the Rockets (13-3, 7-1 KRC) grabbed control of the KRC race with two games remaining against Johnsburg and Harvard. Marengo (21-2-1, 7-2), which could have clinched at least a share of the KRC title with a win, has one game left against Harvard.

Johnsburg also is still alive in the KRC race at 6-3.

“I just knew I needed to get on for my team,” Hird said of her final at-bat. “My first few at-bats were kind of a little rough, and I knew I had to pick myself up and my teammates up. I had to get on for them and for [starting pitcher] Hailey [Holtz] because she pitched one [heck] of a game, and she deserves us to have her back.”

Holtz ended up throwing 195 pitches in the win, giving up three runs and scattering 11 hits with seven strikeouts and five walks. The Rockets freshman pitched in and out of trouble all game as the Indians left 14 on base.

Holtz retired Marengo in order in the bottom of the 10th on two groundouts and a line out. After the last out was recorded, the Rockets celebrated on the infield, knowing the significance of the win.

R-B had previously lost to Marengo, 11-2, on April 26. Wednesday’s victory moved the Rockets one step closer to winning their third straight KRC championship.

“She’s a warrior, she’s been our freshman leader from the beginning,” R-B first-year coach Tylar Stanton said of Holtz. “I told her how proud I was of her and to go ice that sucker [her shoulder]. That last inning, I could just see it in her, there was nothing she was going to do other than fight.

“That’s how she’s been all year, and she’ll be ready to go tomorrow. That’s just how it is for everyone on this team.”

Marengo put its first two runners on in the eighth inning, and had runners on second and third with two outs in the ninth, but could not push across the game winner either time. The Indians ended up leaving multiple runners on base in five of 10 innings.

“We left too many on base, and that was kind of the story of the game,” Marengo coach Dwain Nance said. “When we got base runners on, [Holtz] stepped up and their defense made every play that they had to make.

“We just couldn’t come up with the hit that we needed. We were right there. They had a couple of nice hits in that last inning, and it just wasn’t our day. That was a great high school ball game, and probably was the conference championship right there. But we’ve still got to play Harvard, and they’ve still got Harvard and Johnsburg.”

Sophomore Lilly Kunzer matched Holtz and went all 10 innings for the Indians, allowing five runs on 10 hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. Freshman catcher Kylee Jensen smacked a two-run home run homer in the third to give Marengo a brief 2-0 lead before the Rockets answered with two in the fourth.

Rockets leadoff hitter Lyndsay Regnier finished 3 for 5 with a double, steal and three runs scored, and Holtz (2 for 5) added a double and an RBI. Spittler was 3 for 5 with three RBIs, including a game-tying hit in the top of the sixth.

For Marengo, Mia Lulinski was 2 for 5 with a run scored, and Courtney Jasinski had a double and an RBI. Marissa Young added two hits.

R-B can clinch at least a share of the KRC championship with a win against Johnsburg on Thursday, or with a Marengo loss against Harvard. The Rockets can win it outright with two wins or one win and a Marengo loss.

“I was so proud of us that we came through,” Spittler said. “We were so hyped from the beginning. We wanted to win so bad. It was a great game.”