Mersch, Downers South knock out Neuqua Valley
Downers Grove South’s playoff survival has a parallel story — Marissa Mersch’s push toward the state hit record.
Not that Mersch is consumed by her numbers.
“She wouldn’t even know about the record half the time if people didn’t remind her of it,” Mustangs coach Ron Havelka said. “She’s just a gamer.”
Mersch went 2-for-4 Saturday, her 2-run go-ahead double in a 4-run third inning helping the No. 2 seed Mustangs to an 11-7 win over No. 7 Neuqua Valley in the Class 4A Downers Grove South regional final.
Mersch was robbed in the first inning of a basehit by Neuqua shortstop Brooke Meyer’s sensational back-to-the-infield diving grab of a pop-up in short center. Mersch’s 2 hits give her 249, 3 shy of tying the state’s all-time hit record.
Her attempt to draw even will be tested in the next round, as the Mustangs meet Naperville Central and Mersch’s summer ball teammate Alyssa Wunderlich on Thursday.
“I’m just taking it game by game. Whatever happens, happens,” Mersch said. “There’s not much I can do besides go up to bat and try to hit the ball hard.”
The game was anything but pitching-dominated.
The two teams combined to strike out just one time, while a total of five pitchers issued 13 walks, hit a batter and threw 4 wild pitches with 1 passed ball.
Looming largest for Neuqua, though, were the 6 illegal pitches called on starting pitcher Jena Boudreau. She was removed for the Wildcats’ first of two relievers after two one-out walks in the second inning and Neuqua up 1-0.
“Obviously the worst thing that could have happened to us at that point in time,” Neuqua coach Melissa Wilson said. “It’s happened to us all season. Very inconsistent. Yesterday we had the same umpires, and it wasn’t called.
“They were saying that she was dragging her foot and hopped over her little mound that she was creating. We thought she had fixed it. They didn’t let up today.”
Mersch and Danielle Trezzo RBI singles, and a wild pitch allowed Downers Grove South (27-6) to grab a 3-1 lead. Neuqua (19-10) came right back with 3 runs in the third, Meyer greeting Mustangs reliever Aleisha Bozek with an RBI double and Sarah Gronowski singling in 2.
Downers Grove South had the answer with 4 runs in the bottom of the third, and 3 more in the fourth. Katy LaCivita and Bozek singled to start the third, and two walks loaded the bases. Mersch, hitting .750 with runners in scoring position this season, doubled in Chelsea Lavin and Jackie Tonoff to make it 6-4.
“We know that anybody can come back,” Mersch said. “We never give up.”
Lavin went 2-for-2 and reached base 4 times for the Mustangs, her two-out, two-run double in the fourth making it 9-4. Tonoff then tripled in Lavin. Lavin later made an outstanding running catch in foul ground in left in the fifth inning with two Neuqua runners on.
“Neuqua has a scrappy team,” Havelka said. “We knew we were gonna need every one of those runs.”
Neuqua, to its credit, didn’t quit, Leigh Nebendahl’s 3-run homer in the sixth, her sixth of the season, made it 10-7. Meyer went 4-for-4 and Megan Childs singled twice.
“Our team always fights to the end,” Wilson said. “I have nine seniors graduating. I’m so proud of them. They never give up.”