One year ago, Warren beat Huntley by 20 runs in an early season game and then went on to win the Class 4A state title.
On Monday, against a team that returned five starters and won a tournament in Barrington last week, Huntley wanted to prove something to the Blue Devils.
“We wanted to come out stronger, show what we have, and have the mentality to try to beat them,” Huntley senior Shannon Walsh said. “And we came close.”
Warren scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to set up a 6-4 win over Huntley at The Dome in Rosemont. But the Red Raiders got runners to second and third in the top of the seventh before the defending state champs managed to close the door.
“That’s all you can ask for,” Huntley coach Mark Petryniec said. “They didn’t hang their heads and they battled. It just went Warren’s way.
“We saw two great (Warren) pitchers and a great hitting team. They put 24 runs up on us last year and returned a lot of girls. I’m not happy with the outcome but I’m happy with the way we played.”
Huntley (1-1) led 2-1 after an inning thanks to a double from Walsh and an RBI single from Jess Shields, who raced all the way around the bases on the play and scored on a fielding error.
Warren (4-0) answered with a run in the bottom of the first but Huntley scored two more in the second on a wild pitch and an RBI bunt from speedy leadoff hitter Walsh, who reached base three times.
Warren made it 4-3 with two runs in its half of the second and tied the game in the third. Huntley sophomore Kateri Conklin lasted 2.2 innings, walking seven and striking out three.
Red Raiders freshman Tiffany Giese replaced Conklin in the third and pitched two scoreless innings before Warren scored the winning runs.
“I like what (Conklin) did. She had a tight strike zone and just struggled with it a little bit,” Petryniec said. “That was (Giese’s) first varsity appearance and she did a great job of keeping the game close.”
Walsh was tickled with the Giese’s performance.
“That was awesome,” Walsh said. “Whenever you have a freshman, they have a lot of nervous anxiety in games. For her to be able to go in there and pitch well, that was awesome. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Walsh walked to open the seventh, Megan Baczewski reached on an error, and the two advanced to second and third before Warren pitcher Hannah Nommensen struck out the game’s final batter.
Warren earned a 7-5 edge in hits and stayed perfect on the year with quality late hitting.
“Coach (Jenna Anderson) told us to relax and we went out there and chipped away at their lead,” Warren third baseman Sabrina Trevino said. “The last couple of innings we got ourselves collected and we started to hit like we can hit.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance writer.
