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MARENGO — Marengo softball coach Dwain Nance is no stranger to winning in the postseason.
He’d won 13 straight regional championships with the Indians prior to the 2020 postseason being canceled due to COVID-19. His team then lost to Richmond-Burton in a regional title game in 2021.
Which is why Nance and his players were thrilled to return to familiar territory on Friday, as the Indians overcame an early deficit to capture an 11-5 victory over rival Johnsburg — and more importantly — their own Class 2A Marengo Regional championship.
Indians sophomore starting pitcher Lilly Kunzer (20-4) allowed three first-inning runs, then rebounded to retire 15 of the next 18 hitters she faced, as top-seeded Marengo scored 11 unanswered runs to run away with the victory.
Kunzer simultaneously exercised her ghosts from a year ago, when she struggled during a pair of postseason appearances.
“I came in the game in relief in both our playoff games last season and both of those outings didn’t go very well for me,” Kunzer said. “I had a lot of nerves, because at the time I was a freshman being given an important role on a team with an established history of success.
“I had those same nerves at the start of the game today, too. The difference was, I didn’t let them get to me this time. I calmed down, and told myself I was capable of doing this. I got locked in, focused, then just shut them down.”
It was her first postseason complete-game varsity win. Kunzer allowed seven hits, struck out eight, and didn’t allow a walk.
The lone mistake she made after her early struggles came in the top of the seventh, when she surrendered a two-run homer to center field off the bat of Skyhawks shortstop Brooke Klosowicz (2 for 4, 2 RBIs). But by that time, Marengo had already blown the game wide open.
All nine Marengo starters reached base safely at least once. Freshman cleanup hitter and catcher Kylee Jensen (1 for 2, double, 2 RBIs, walk) got the Indians on the board in the bottom of the first, courtesy of a sacrifice fly. She also had an RBI double in the third, which tied the game 3-3.
“It’s not often you see a freshman cleanup hitter, especially one who is a catcher,” Jensen said. “But I worked really hard to earn those roles. Me and Lilly (Kunzer) have a great chemistry and connection, too, which I know makes Coach Nance’s job easier.”
Marengo (26-6-1) also got a three-RBI game from first baseman Marisa Young, a two-hit game from leadoff hitter Maddy Christopher, and a two-RBI effort by No. 9 hitter Mia Feidt.
Feidt had a pair of sacrifice flies and a single, as the Indians’ No. 7-9 spots in their order were a combined 3 for 6, with two walks and three runs scored.
“A lot of teams have girls who can really hit and affect the outcome of games in the first four or five spots in their lineup,” Nance said. “The difference on our team is we have nine players who can do damage with the bat. It’s a wonderful luxury to have.”
Mia Lulinski’s two-run homer to left-center finished the scoring in the seventh for Marengo.
Nance also used smallball to help secure the win, as his lineup executed four successful sacrifice bunts.
Marengo will face Stillman Valley in a Class 2A Richmond-Burton Sectional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Johnsburg, meanwhile, which was a No. 4 seed, split a pair of regular season games with Marengo, but cost itself dearly by committing seven errors Friday.
“At this point in the season, especially, we’ve gotta play a cleaner game than we did, obviously,” Skyhawks interim coach Erin Widmayer said. " But I was extremely proud of the way our girls never quit. They just battled and battled until the final out.”
Johnsburg senior Addison Mass took the complete-game loss, but said she and her three senior teammates (Amber Smith, Emma Rowe, Avery Malueg) were thankful to have been part of something special.
“I wouldn’t trade my four years here for anything,” Mass said. “We won a regional title last year, and these are memories me and my teammates will cherish for the rest of our lives. It’s been a blast and I’m gonna miss it. A lot.”
Marengo 11, Johnsburg 5
Johnsburg 300 000 2 – 5 7 7
Marengo 112 142 X – 11 11 2
WP: Kunzer (20-4) (7 IP, 7H, 5R, 3ER, 0BB, 8K). LP: Mass (7 IP, 11H, 11R, 7ER, 4BB, 5K).
Top hitters–Marengo: Christopher 2 for 3 (BB), Young 1 for 4 (2B, 3 RBI), Jasinski 1 for 2 (2B, two sac bunts), Jensen 1 for 2 (2B, BB, 2 RBI), Kunzer 3 for 4 (2B, RBI), Lulinski 2 for 4 (HR, 2 RBI), White 1 for 1 (2 BB), Giesele 1 for 4 (R), Feidt 1 for 2 (2 RBI). Johnsburg: Klosowicz 2 for 4 (HR, 2 RBI), Smith 1 for 3 (2 RBI), Mass 1 for 3 (2B), Tibbs 1 for 3,