Good Morgan: Lindsay Morgan sparks 3-run third inning as Huntley stuns Marist in 4A state semifinals

EAST PEORIA, Ill. — The belief for Huntley, sophomore catcher Lindsay Morgan insisted, was always there.

But if the Red Raiders were to knock off powerhouse Marist, someone needed to provide a spark Friday.

Morgan made the most of her chance, leading off the bottom of the third inning with a double against Northwestern recruit Angela Zedak.

It ignited a three-run inning for Huntley, which held on for a 3-2 victory in the Class 4A state semifinals at the EastSide Centre.

“I didn’t think of it as this pitcher is going (Division I), which is amazing for her,” Morgan said. “I just thought of it as one of our games. And I really thought my team deserved this.

“All the seniors have worked so hard, everybody on the team worked so hard. I just really wanted to start things off.”

Sophomore pitcher Briana Bower made that stand up for the Red Raiders (34-7), who will play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday for the state title against St. Charles East (26-10).

Huntley coach Mark Petryniec? He wasn’t surprised either.

“I’ll take my girls against anybody in the state,” Petryniec said. “Hats off to the No. 1 team in the state (Marist).

“We had a couple of miscues. But the whole approach was they were going to punch at us and we had to punch back.”

The Red Raiders scored a knockout against Marist (36-3) which has eight Division I players on its roster.

“Honestly, I think we knew we could beat this team,” Morgan said. “We just had to have more confidence in the beginning of it and then just put it all in.”

Zedak struck out four of the first six batters she faced before Morgan hit a rope to the fence in center field for a double.

One out later, Taylor Zielinski worked Zedak for a walk. Kendra Mitchell then put the Red Raiders in front with an RBI single to left field.

“After (Morgan’s) hit… oh my gosh, we were absolutely ecstatic,” Mitchell said. “I tried to look at (batting) just like any other game we played this year.

“You see the papers and you see everything hyping up the game, but if you stay in your game and your plan, then good things can happen.”

Sofia Tenuta and Grace Kutz added RBI singles to complete the three-run outburst.

The right-handed Bower, meanwhile, didn’t have a typical outing. She entered with 339 strikeouts in 197 innings. She only added one to that total.

She did keep the ball in the park against the RedHawks, who came in having hit 53 home runs. Several sterling defensive plays helped.

Next stop: the state finals.

“Since I started playing softball, I’ve been dreaming of this game,” Mitchell said. “Now that it’s actually here, it’s amazing.”

St. Charles East 3, Joliet West 2: Alex Wooten went 2-for-3 with an RBI single as the Saints prevailed in the other semifinal. Her single was part of a three-run sixth that broke a scoreless tie.

“I just wanted to do it for my teammates and get that top hand through the ball,” Wooten said. “Oh, my gosh, it was so crazy to get that hit.”

Sophomore pitcher Katie Arrambide (17-7) struck out nine and made the final play on a squeeze bunt attempt by Joliet West (23-14).