Big 6-run inning propels Palatine past Warren

Palatine softball coach Jeff Manz calls his team one of the most athletic he has had in nine seasons.

Late Friday afternoon, it became his fifth to win a regional crown.

The No. 2 seeded Pirates (25-9) will return to a sectional for the first time since 2007 as they rallied for a 7-4 victory over No. 7 Warren (21-13) to take the title of their own Class 4A regional.

Palatine advanced to the Warren sectional semifinal Thursday at 4:30 p.m. to face the winner of today’s Hersey regional final between No. 3 Lake Zurich and No. 11 Carmel.

An RBI single by sophomore Megan Sowa gave the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead, which they held until the bottom of the fourth when Palatine erupted for 6 runs on 7 hits.

Warren threatened to increase its 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth when it had runners on second and third with two outs.

But Pirates senior second baseman Katie Scovic made a superb leaping grab of Sowa’s hard-hit liner to end the inning.

Scovic led off the bottom of the inning by beating out a grounder to short to spark the big 6-run rally.

“That catch (by Scovic) was the key to the whole game,” said Manz, who directed the Pirates to four straight regional crowns from 2004-07. “She made a huge play defensively, then she came back and started our big inning with that infield hit. That changed the whole outcome.”

Tori Walzak’s sacrifice bunt moved Scovic to second, and Alexis Bauer singled to center to tie the game at 1-1.

“That was so indicative of our team this year — it’s not just one person,” said Scovic, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Scovic came up later in the inning and produced another infield hit which brought home the sixth run. In between, Alyx Ballenger and Lauren Logan each delivered RBI singles and Joanne Jablonski clubbed a 2-run double as the Pirates sent 12 batters to the plate in the fourth.

“We just got some good key hits,” said Jablonski, who went 2-for-3 and made a perfect throw home from center field to prevent runners from moving up when Warren had the bases loaded and one out in the second inning. “We were trying to put pressure on them with our bats.”

Like Scovic, Ballenger went 3-for-4 as Palatine finished 15 hits.

“We were seeing the ball well,” Ballenger said. “I thought we got a lot of good hits. It was a team effort.”

Warren put together a rally in the top of the sixth when the Blue Devils scored three times.

Sophomore Sam Belletini scored the first run when Sowa reached on an error with the bases loaded.

After a flyout to Salomone in right, Abby Anderson drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-3.

Sophomore Amy Ricci singled home the fourth run before Pirates ace Dani Boisvert (20-8) got the final batter on a grounder back to the mound.

“Palatine is a really good hitting team and I give them credit,” said Warren coach Carri McGahan, who used junior Jessica Demski (10-3) and freshman Jana Wagner on the mound. “But so are we, so it was a good competitive game.”

Leading 6-4, the Pirates got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.

After one out, Logan singled to left, stole second and came home on a towering double to center by Salomone (2-for-4), who recently returned after being sidelined with a severe bone bruise in her left thumb.

“That hit by Sam played a big part for us to close out the game,” Manz said. “And Sam had a lot of putouts in the field.”

Boisvert closed out the game by getting three flyouts to Salomone in right field.

Boisvert became the second 20-game winner Manz has coached. Amy Mitchell, who was at Friday’s game to watch her alma mater, won 22 games as a senior in 2007.

“We made a few mistakes defensively but I thought we hit the ball hard the whole game,” Manz said. “We’ve got so many seniors. We’ve got so much experience. Everyone contributes. I’m happy for our seniors. They are looking forward to the sectional.”

Blue Devils sophomore Sam Belletini was 3-for-4, while teammates Sowa, Abby Anderson, Ricci, Jill Fox and Lexi Leneau each had 1 hit.

“We have a talented young group back,” McGahan said. “It’s nice that they had this experience and saw what takes to compete at this level.”

Before the game, Palatine athletic secretary Annie Hernandez threw out the first pitch. She has served at the school for more than 31 years. Her catcher on the pitch was John Derkits, who is also retiring after 32 years as an athletic trainer at the school.