Belletini's clutch effort lifts Warren

As Mundelein purposely pitched four softballs off the plate to one of the hottest sluggers around, Rachele Belletini swung her bat on the on-deck circle for Warren.

For as hot as Sabrina Trevino had been at the plate, homering five times since last Saturday, her teammate had been as cold.

"Recently, I've not done too hot," said Belletini, who doubled twice against Carmel last Saturday but claimed she had cooled off since that game.

Friday, the senior first baseman heated up again.

Her two-out, bases-loaded single drove in a pair of runs, erasing a one-run deficit in the third inning, and Warren stayed hot by capturing a 6-2 win. The North Suburban Lake Division game had been suspended due to rain in the top of the second inning last week, with Mundelein leading 1-0.

Warren improved to 15-1 and 4-0 in the NSC Lake. Mundelein, which rallied to put the tying run at the plate in the seventh, fell to 12-4 and 2-1 with its second loss in as many days.

"The nice thing is, we didn't give up," Mustangs coach Brett Wilhelm said. "We came back and tried fighting and had an opportunity to turn some heads in that seventh inning. These are teams that you got to beat to win a regional or sectional, and we're not that far off."

When Trevino came up to bat in the third, Wilhelm walked to the circle and instructed pitcher Nicole Parney to intentionally put the red-hot Blue Devil on base.

Trevino, who has 8 homers this season, understood the strategy.

"But you want to hit so bad," she said. "They're pitching out and you can't get your bat on it."

Belletini welcomed the opportunity to bust out of her slump.

"When they called the timeout and went to the circle before she came up," Belletini said, "I figured either they know where she can't hit it - which is, really, nowhere - and they're going to try to pitch it to her, or they're going to put her on base. That upset me."

Belletini locked in at the plate and heeded her coach's advice.

"I looked at my coach and she goes, 'Don't beat yourself. You got this,' " Belletini said. "So I got up there and told myself to relax and that I got to do something to get the run in for my team."

Warren added to its lead in the fourth, scoring two more runs to make it a 4-1 game. Amber Leneau and Nicole Somppi executed a delayed double steal, with Somppi swiping home.

Belletini's RBI groundout and Crystal Pennell's run-scoring single hiked the lead to 6-1 in the sixth.

Warren sophomore ace Hannah Nommensen shut down Mundelein's potent attack until there were two out in the seventh. Amanda Diaz (2-for-3, double) singled, Kaitlyn Griffin walked and Meghan Ehemann smacked an RBI single. Nommensen then hit ninth-place hitter Jordyn West to load the bases for Maddie Zazas, who represented the tying run.

Nommensen retired Zazas on a called-third strike for her 11th strikeout. It was just the second time the keen-eyed Zazas had struck out this season.

"You can't say anything negative about her as a pitcher," Wilhelm said of Nommensen. "She does a great job of getting ahead in the count and keeping you guessing."

"She was 'on' her game today," Warren coach Jenna Anderson said of Nommensen. "She did really well."

Mundelein had scored its first-inning run last week on Hannah Bulgart's RBI single.

Warren leadoff hitter Emily Hudgins went 2-for-3 with a walk. Shannon McKeon, Emily Partlow and Somppi also had singles for the Blue Devils.

"We got a strong lineup," Trevino said. "There are no divots in it."