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Red Devils rally to beat Blazers
Hinsdale Central pitcher Kelly MacKenzie throws a batter out at first, during a game against Lyons Township. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
Updated: July 2, 2012 10:08AM
Hinsdale Central and Addison Trail played in back-to-back games, but the Devils did not get a repeat result.
Addison Trail won Saturday to end the regular season, but the Devils came back from a seven-run deficit to stun the Blazers 10-7 Monday in a Class 4A preliminary round game at Hinsdale Central.
The 15th-seeded Devils (15-19) survived for another day and will play at No. 2-seeded Bartlett in a regional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The 18th-seeded Blazers (4-23) were on their way to beating Hinsdale again by jumping out to a 7-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings. Addison Trail won 12-11 at home Saturday against the Devils with a late rally of its own.
Hinsdale stormed back with three runs in the fourth and five runs in the fifth. The biggest blow was Emma Day’s two-run double to right field to tie the game at seven in the fifth. Alexa Heydenberk’s grounder turned into an error at second base that allowed Day to score the go-ahead run.
The Blazers scored three in the third and four in the fourth. All their runs in the fourth came with two out and on five consecutive hits off winning pitcher Kelly McKenzie. Crystal Marinelli, who went 2-for-4 and scored two runs, suffered the loss.
Analia Tahir, who scored in the pivotal fifth inning, was one of four seniors to play their final home game with Christyn Lovelace, Jen Loiselle and McKenzie.
“Our team has worked really hard,” Tahir said. “Once we put our mind to it, we really do great.”
Tahir is Hindale’s starting right fielder and will end her third varsity season with a loss.
“This year was really a great year,” Tahir said. “The team was awesome. We have some very athletic people and were great teammates. I love them.”
