Warriors rally in 7th

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MARENGO – Between the control of a pitcher whose climb back to the top has been arduous and the sheer speed of a leadoff hitter whose quickness single-handedly determined the game, Marengo’s softball team was left with few holes it could exploit in McHenry’s game.

Warriors senior pitcher Chelsea Mayer was pure vintage, fanning 12 batters in her first win of the season, and senior infielder Maria Sorrentino was pure clutch, sprinting to first to beat a throw that allowed McHenry to rally in the seventh inning.

Those two crucial elements hurt the Indians most in McHenry’s 3-1 non-conference victory Saturday.

“This was a very, very good game,” McHenry coach Pam McCarrel said. “It was fun to watch, and it was really fun to coach.”

With McHenry down by a run in the top of the seventh, Sorrentino hit an infield single with two outs, scoring Nicole Wallace, courtesy runner for Megan Gier, who had singled. Marengo shortstop Amanda Knutson tried to throw out Sorrentino at first, which would have given the Indians (19-8) the final out and the win, but Sorrentino beat the throw, which sailed high over first baseman Dana Diedrich’s glove. Sorrentino reached second on the throwing error, and Ashley Voss scored the go-ahead run.

“I knew as soon as [Sorrentino] made contact that she’d get on base and beat out the throw,” McCarrel said. “She’s so quick [on the base path].”

Video of the play showed Sorrentino touching first before the ball sailed over Diedrich’s glove.

“I was kind of nervous because I had struck out twice before and I knew everyone was counting on me to make something happen,” Sorrentino said. “I knew I had to beat out the throw. When I came back into the dugout, everyone was saying, ‘We knew you were a clutch hitter.’ ”

Mayer (1-2) kept McHenry’s momentum going. She smacked a two-out double to the center-field fence off Marengo ace Sarah Steinmann (13-5), which scored Sorrentino for the final run.

Mayer’s performance in the circle mirrored the dominance that put her on the local pitching map during her freshman season with the Warriors (16-8). Mayer allowed three hits in seven innings of lights-out work for arguably her best performance since her sophomore year. Mayer had a shoulder injury that required surgery and kept her out of the circle for some of her sophomore season and all of her junior season with McHenry. She hadn’t pitched a full game this season.

“It was nice to be back,” said Mayer, who also went 2-for-4 at the plate. “I felt like I was very relaxed out there and that my confidence was really up. My defense was right there for me, too, so it was nice to have that support.”

“When Chelsea Mayer is on, she can be overpowering,” Marengo coach Dwain Nance said. “But we battled. I think it took us a little while, and I thought once we scored the one run, it might be enough. It wasn’t, and McHenry is a very good team. They were going to come back if they could.”

Mayer’s throwing error to first in the fifth allowed Marengo’s Kaleigh Velasquez to reach with no outs. Velasquez advanced to second and third on passed balls and scored on a wild pitch for Marengo’s only run.