It took 10 full innings to decide a Girls Catholic Athletic (Red) Conference champ last week.
In the end, Trinity (20-14), who won the White Division title last season, was forced to settle for runner-up as the Blazers fell to Resurrection 6-5.
“Great game,” exclaimed Trinity coach Bob Osborne after the heated contest. “All the way through, every girl fought hard; 6-5, 10 innings, you can’t go wrong. This is not a bad loss. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
Resurrection (22-9) took the first lead in the bottom of the second. A leadoff walk, some errors, and a single translated into a 2-0 advantage for the Bandits. But the Blazers shook it off and came back in the third to score four runs.
A leadoff walk and consecutive singles by Gina Consiglio and Allison Mazurek loaded the bases with no outs. Christina Carbonaro knocked in the first run, followed by a two-run double by Marisa Bertolli, and a single RBI by Kelly O’Brien. Resurrection added a run in the bottom of the third, but Trinity still hung onto the lead, 4-3.
The bats were quiet for both teams the next two innings before the Bandits were able to tie the score in the bottom of the sixth.
In the seventh, Trinity had two outs and two on when O’Brien almost sent one over the fence, but it was caught to end the inning. She led off with a single in the 10th. Franki LeDoux, who made some great defensive plays down the stretch, smacked a hard double to put the Blazers up 5-4.
“We played very well. We played as a team and stayed in the game,” said LeDoux.
In the bottom of the 10th, after the first batter flied out to center, a walk and two singles loaded the bases for Resurrection. Mallory Clark got the game winning hit for the Bandits as two runners scored to end the game.
For Trinity, pitcher Allison Hernandez went the full 10 innings with seven strikeouts.
“We went from last in this division to play in the championship game. It’s a big improvement, and I’m proud of our team,” said Hernandez.
O’Brien had three hits and an RBI for the Blazers. Bertolli had two doubles and two RBIs and Mazurek had two singles.
Trinity meets Elmwood Park at Triton today (Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.) in the first round of the River Forest Regional.