She isn’t afraid to slide. To dive. To take chances. To be aggressive and swing.
Oak Forest’s Mia Delisi takes a very simple approach to competing.
“I just go for it either way,” Delisi said. “I make them make a play on me. If they don’t make the play, then I take ’em.”
The sophomore third baseman took it all the way to a Class 3A regional title Friday afternoon as the host Bengals posted a 4-1 victory over Tinley Park.
Delisi had two hits, including the game-winning double, for Oak Forest (20-10). Junior pitcher Hailey Wesner fired a four-hitter, striking out eight.
Natalie Gomez, Kayla Patrick and Triniti Woolfolk each had doubles for Tinley Park (14-10).
Delisi literally stole the Bengals’ first run of the game in the bottom of the third.
After beating out a one-out grounder to short, she immediately stole second base. Annabelle Rush followed with a walk.
Then it got interesting.
When the Titans attempted a pickoff at first base, Delisi broke for third.
“I always try to be the most confident I can be on the bases and take as many as possible,” Delisi said. “I saw how the catcher was looking at Annabelle at first base and I saw how she wanted to pick her off so bad.
“Once I saw her throw the ball, I knew I had to take off.”
A few pitches later, Rush pushed the envelope further by attempting to steal second. The throw went all the way down, allowing Delisi to sprint home.
Delisi made them make the play. She won.
And she wasn’t done.
The game was tied 1-1 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth when Keira Clancy doubled for the Bengals. Pinch-hitter Brooke Zwartz, the next batter, was hit by a pitch.
That brought up Delisi, who swung at the first pitch and drove it into the gap in right-center for an RBI double.
The biggest hit of her high school career?
“Probably so far,” Delisi said. “I was a little nervous, but I knew I had to be confident to be able to hit the ball. I adjusted my swing and did it.”
The Bengals scored two more runs before Wesner finished it off from the circle.
It was Wesner’s first seven-inning turn as a pitcher since April 27, when she exited the game against Bradley-Bourbonnais with what was diagnosed as a shoulder injury.
“All of a sudden when I was pitching, I felt a really sharp pain in the back of my shoulder,” Wesner said. “I just could not pitch anymore. The doctor said I needed to let the soft tissue heal for four weeks.”
Wesner returned to the circle May 18, throwing three shutout innings against Lemont. She made a few partial appearances before engaging in a morning messaging session Friday with coach Nick Fuentes.
“She messaged me and said, ‘I’ve got a full game,'” Fuentes said. “At that point, I was still deciding if she was ready for a big situation like this.
“Later I asked, ‘Can you go? Can you go for one?’ And she gave me that look and said, ‘Yeah.’ I knew right away this was her game.”
The right-handed Wesner was brilliant. She retired the first 11 batters, striking out six. Even after allowing the run in the sixth, she left a runner stranded at second by getting the final two batters.
“I was coming for blood,” Wesner said. “I knew I had to come in and win this thing. It was a little bit scary, because I was just coming off an injury and I might not have had all my best stuff, but I went out there and gave it all I had.
“It feels so good winning the regional title. I feel so happy.”
