Softball: Huntley wins championship at Marengo
Yes, Briana Bower gave up hits and base runners.
But in the end, the Huntley hard throwing right-hander totally stymied host Marengo in the championship game of the Marengo tournament Saturday afternoon.
With 9 strikeouts without allowing a walk, Bowers blanked the Indians on 5 singles as the Red Raiders captured the championship with a 3-0 victory.
Bower (14-5) benefited from an outstanding defense which didn't commit an error.
"My defense was outstanding," said Bower. "They made great play after great play. I had all my pitches working and had the strikeout pitch when needed. It was nice to pitch with the lead. I pitched with a lot of confidence."
Huntley coach Mark Petryniec praised Bower and his flawless defense.
"Brianna was outstanding against a very good hitting Marengo hitting team," said the Huntley coach. "Marengo put the ball in play more than a lot of teams. Our defense was outstanding and made the big play when needed."
Huntley (19-7), which managed 12 hits off losing pitcher Kiley Christopher, scored the only run it needed in the top of the first on a run-scoring single by Teagan O'Riley.
The Red Raiders added single tallies in the second on an RBI single by Kendra Mitchell and in the fourth on an RBI double from Taylor Zielinski.
O'Riley, Mitchell and Micah Goodrich with 3 hits each paced Huntley's attack.
"I was really zoned in for this game," said O' Riley. "I really saw the ball well all day and I got some swings at the plate. We want to get ready for the rest of the conference (Fox Valley) season and then for the postseason. It was nice to win this tournament against some very good teams."
Petryniec liked his team's approach for the entire tournament.
"This tournament is unbelievable," said Petryniec. "We have a lot of positives to take away from this. Brianna pitched great and we scratched enough runs. We have a tough stretch in our conference left to get us ready for the postseason."
Marengo's best chance to score came in the sixth.
Hannah Ritter and Jenna Turner reached on singles to lead off the inning. Bower reached back and retired the next 3 hitters including strikeouts of Lauren Aubry and Mikayla Wzientek.
Ritter collected 2 of the Indians' (15-12) 5 hits.
"We had some opportunities and plenty of baserunners to score in this game, but Bower was tough when she had to be," said Marengo coach Dwain Nance. "Huntley is a very good team but we think we had eight very good teams in this tournament. This tournament brings the diversity in teams we are looking for. This tournament gets us ready for the postseason."