Horwitz, Hurd enjoy Warren's win over Carmel

She'd still rather be pitching on a mound and swinging at pitches thrown from 60 feet, 6 inches - not 43 feet - and she'll be doing that again this summer.

In the meantime, Lindsay Horwitz is having her fun helping Warren's softball team add to its school-record win total.

"It's different," Horwitz said of softball. "It's still fun, but it's nothing like baseball."

Nothing beats winning, no matter the size of the ball.

With a little help from Horwitz, as well as Kayla Hurd, who allowed just a bunt single and struck out 14, the Blue Devils won their first regional game since 2006 Tuesday. They scored all of their runs in the first inning en route to a 3-0 win over Carmel in a Class 4A regional semifinal at Libertyville.

Warren (27-7), which broke its old record for wins with its 24th last week, earned a berth in Friday's 4:30 p.m. regional final against the winner of today's game between host Libertyville and Palatine.

"Every year we've been growing, throughout the whole program," said Warren coach Carri McGahan, whose three levels have won a combined 70 games this spring.

Horwitz started the scoring against Carmel (11-25) in the bottom of the first by lining a perfectly placed RBI triple off Rachel Tack down the right-field line. Alex Booker, who had reached on a throwing error to start the inning, scored easily.

Horwitz trotted home on Sarah Clauser's double, and Hurd's RBI single capped the inning.

Horwitz added a single in the fifth.

The senior played freshman baseball for Warren but gave her bat and glove a break the following spring when she didn't make the baseball team. She's been spraying softballs for the Blue Devils the last two seasons.

McGahan loves her work ethic and passion. Horwitz, who can throw a baseball close to 70 mph and has been playing the sport since she was 4, plans on trying out for the U.S. women's baseball national team this summer

"For the love of the game, like that movie," McGahan, making reference to a Kevin Costner baseball flick, said with a laugh. "That's Lindsay, whether it's softball or bigger ball."

Horwitz and her softball teammates saw to it that Tack didn't add to her school-record win total of 51. The four-year varsity player, who established herself as the Corsairs' ace her freshman year, allowed only Horwitz's fifth-inning single after the first.

One of the first-inning runs Tack allowed was unearned.

"Rachel's still a really good pitcher," McGahan said. "She's definitely a good (competitor). She didn't give up."

But Hurd, another four-year varsity player, was too tough for Carmel. Danielle Pullano's bunt single in the second was the only hit for Carmel.

"We settled down (after the first inning)," Corsairs coach Jason Raymond said. "I think we relaxed out there in the field, but at the plate we were just overmatched."

Hurd ended the game by striking out the final three batters. While Warren had only 5 hits off Tack, that was enough.

"We have such great chemistry," Horwitz said. "We hit all through the lineup, and we have great pitching. It's good stuff."