Grant's Nazario delivers game-winning hit in debut
Nikki Nazario made her first appearance on the Grant softball team quite the memorable occasion Thursday.
Nazario, who was promoted from the junior varsity last week, delivered a walk-off hit over the right fielder's head that drove home the winning run in the botttom of the seventh inning, giving the second-seeded Bulldogs a 7-6 win over No. 3 McHenry in a Class 4A regional semifinal at Cary-Grove.
The Bulldogs (22-13) advanced to play host Cary-Grove (27-6) for the regional championship Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Nazario at first didn't realize what she did until she reached first base.
"It was exciting. I was looking to hit the ball and wanted to come through for the team," Nazario said. "All I wanted to do was to make contact."
The Bulldogs rallied twice, giving up 3-run leads on two occasions before pulling out the victory.
"We persevered and won the game," said Bulldogs coach Mike Dolezal. "We could've played a lot better and still found a way to win."
McHenry (10-18) scored 3 unearned runs in both the fifth and sixth innings and left a runner stranded at third base in the top of the seventh.
The Bulldogs' Brie Brugioni retired a hitter on flyout to short left and struck out the next batter to close out the inning and set the stage for Nazario's heroics.
"When I need to buckle down and focus, I do it," said Brugioni, who had 13 strikeouts to go with 7 walks. "There are times when I don't. But I work well under pressure."
Rachel DePouw (2-for-4, 4 RBI) put the Bulldogs ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the first with a 3-run homer.
McHenry tied the game in the top of the third. Megan Gier had a run-scoring single, Krystal Vance scored on a wild pitch and Brenda Butzenhost added an RBI single.
DePouw put the Bulldogs back on top with an RBI triple in the bottom of the third and scored on an error.
The Bulldogs added 1 more in the fourth for a 6-3 advantage when Molly Smith scored on an error in the outfield.
"It was good to fight back," said Warriors coach Andy Lukas said. "It seemed like we were playing from behind for the entire game. We had an opportunity with a runner on third and one out. We just couldn't get it going. (Brugioni) did a great job getting out of the jam."
Vernon Hills 2, CL Central 0: Megan Meline was a machine.
The Vernon Hills sophomore struck out 13 batters and allowed just 1 hit, and also went 3-for-4 at the plate, as the Cougars shut out Crystal Lake Central 2-0 in the teams' Class 3A regional semifinal at Vernon Hills on Thursday.
Vernon Hills (17-18), which advances to its own regional final and will play Wauconda on Saturday, scored both of its runs in the seventh thanks to RBI by Meline and Paige Kahalnik.
Sara Doerhoefer had the Cougars' lone extra-base hit, a triple.