Belletini, Warren weather their regional test at Palatine
After bashing a pair of doubles and driving in 3 runs, Warren senior Rachele Belletini turned her attention to the terrible weather conditions Saturday morning.
And she found something to top the rain, cold and wind.
"Two years ago, we played in snow," Belletini said.
Well, maybe the only thing that went wrong for Warren on Saturday was that its bus broke down on the way to the Class 4A regional title game at Palatine.
The upstart Pirates from Palatine lost 20 games this spring but made it to a regional title game with a stunning win over Loyola Academy. And despite another homer from Warren record-holder Sabrina Trevino, it was only a 4-0 game heading to the sixth inning.
And then the favored Blue Devils (31-2) decided not to stop batting. Six runs went up on the board. Warren won by the 10-run rule, 10-0, and the defending state champion will report to the Glenbrook South sectional on Tuesday to meet New Trier, an 8-5 winner over Zion-Benton.
Winner Hannah Nommensen also battled less-than-perfect conditions on Saturday. She walked two of the first three Pirates hitters she faced. She then settled down, striking out five in a row.
"I was a little nervous that the ball would be wet," Nommensen said. "And then it stopped raining."
Palatine managed just 1 infield hit, by Emily Griffin in the fourth.
"My curve was really working," Nommensen said. "I also had a screwball and fastball."
Nommensen walked four and struck out 10 in her 6 innings of work.
The Devils had a booming double from senior Jensen Plata in the opening frame but she was stranded. Warren scored in the bottom of the second thanks to a walk, an error and Amber Leneau's infield hit that rolled maybe 17 inches. Belletini's first two-bagger came in the third and scored shortstop Shannon McKeon. Warren was up 3-0. Belletini scored on Julienne Egofske's single.
"We had seen before what their pitcher had," Belletini said.
Trevino had two infield outs heading to the fourth. The junior then slammed a no-doubt homer to left field. It was her 17th of the campaign.
Nommensen battled through a bases-loaded situation in the sixth. There were a pair of walks and an infield error. However, two more strikeouts kept her shutout intact.
Warren's sixth-inning was a thing of beauty for fans of hitting. There was another run-scoring single from Egofske. Catcher Crystal Pennell brought in two runs with a bases-clearing double. Belletini's second double brought in two more runs. Plata's second hit drove in a run.