PEORIA — The wince on Avaree Taylor’s face was pretty noticeable.
Still, the Lemont junior wasn’t about to tell the trainer to take it easy while he tightly taped her sprained right ankle.
She had a Class 3A state semifinal game to play at first base.
“I didn’t want to sit out,” Taylor said. “I was like, ‘I can’t miss this.’ So I got it taped up and I was ready to go.”
She was definitely all “go” Friday morning as Lemont rolled past Benet 10-0 in six innings at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.
Olivia Parent went 4-for-4 for Lemont (34-1). Raegan Duncan added three hits and a walk, while South Carolina recruit Sage Mardjetko fired a two-hit shutout, striking out 13.
Nina Pesare and Bridget Chapman had singles for Benet (24-12).
Lemont will be looking to win its second straight state championship at 11:30 a.m. Saturday against Antioch (34-1), a 3-0 winner over Charleston in the other semifinal.
Taylor is hitting .534 with 24 runs, nine doubles, four triples and 23 RBIs. She has been a standout while batting fourth in the order for Lemont coach Christine Traina.
“She has meant a lot to this program,” Traina said. “Last season, I think she put a lot of pressure on herself. I think she came in this season with more confidence in herself and relaxed a little bit more.”
It was hold-your-breath time when Taylor sprained her right ankle during warm-ups for Friday’s game.
“We were taking grounders,” Taylor said. “My cleat got stuck in the turf and I rolled it.”
Taylor asked Traina to put her in the lineup, but she really didn’t have to because Traina understood.
“Without a doubt,” Traina said. “Avaree is a gamer. She’s a tough kid. I know it was hurting her, but she was telling me she wanted to be in there and that she was ready to go.”
The acid test came in the top of the third inning, when Taylor hit a drive to the fence in right field. Traina waved her on as she roared around second base and headed for third.
Taylor scored moments later on an infield single by Mardjetko.
“Ha-ha … I was in shock,” Taylor said. “I was like, ‘No way.’ It was like what I tell my team a lot, ‘Let’s go.’ I was excited that I could help the team as much as I could in this game.
“Everybody was hitting. It was awesome. We all know it’s go time. We’re here to win and we’re not going to back down.”
Taylor’s grittiness in the face of pain rubbed off on Parent, who singled to left field in the second inning and later beat out three infield hits.
Mardjetko, meanwhile, reached what will be her final high school strikeout milestone.
During the first three innings, the senior right-hander had Benet’s batters twisting and turning in an attempt to make contact. The first nine did not.
Pesare broke her strikeout string with a leadoff bunt single in the fourth. But Mardjetko ended the inning with a strike-her-out, throw-her-out double play.
It was her 900th career strikeout.
“It definitely means a lot to have that many strikeouts, but when you do it on the biggest stage, it just means more,” Mardjetko said. “Those first three innings were a real confidence booster. Even when they started getting on, my teammates have so much confidence in me, and we all have confidence in each other, that it didn’t matter.”
On this day, it started with Taylor.
“She’s great — she’s a competitor,” Mardjetko said. “I’m honestly so proud of her. But I think if any of us got our ankle wrapped up, we’d want to be out there playing. It’s the biggest game ever, and this team is something special.”
