Gianna Hamady did it again, this time putting an end to a classic Class 2A Boone Groove Regional championship game that took 23 innings over two days to complete.
The Boone Grove senior first baseman put down a squeeze bunt Wednesday with one out in the 23rd to score Jessica Mayer, lifting the Wolves to a 3-2 win against Ashley Gordish and Bishop Noll.
The game began Tuesday and was suspended after 14 innings because of darkness with the score tied 2-2.
Hamady’s bunt helped end it. Last year as a sophomore, her squeeze bunt to score Sarah Brown in the fourth inning of a semistate final sent the Wolves (23-3) to the state finals with a 1-0 win against Elwood.
“I was thinking, ‘All right, have to lay it down, have to score the winning run and get this over with,'” Hamady said.
Winning pitcher Kellie Marcheschi, who began Wednesday after her sister Angie went 14 innings Tuesday, led off the 23rd. She laced a smash off the glove of the third baseman and went to second when the ball went out of play. Angie Marcheschi then put down a sacrifice bunt.
Hamady, courtesy runner Mayer and on-deck batter Lisa Scott conferred with Boone Grove coach Ron Saunders, who managed to crack a smile.
The plan was for Hamady to take a strike, then bunt to the right side. She executed, with Gordish — who remarkably pitched the entire game for the Warriors (17-10) — fielding. Mayer beat the throw.
“Gianna did exactly what we asked of her and you have to give it to Jessica too because she doesn’t get a lot of playing time,” Saunders said. “But she went down that line even better than I thought she would. She was very, very determined.”
Sophomore Kellie Marcheschi (4-2) allowed three hits with five strikeouts and two walks in nine innings. Angie Marcheschi allowed two runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in 14 innings.
“Kudos to Angie for pitching 14 innings,” Kellie said. “She battled.
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“I was mixing up my pitches, keeping them off balance.”
Purdue recruit Gordish (10-8) pitched 22 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on 16 hits with 12 strikeouts and one walk.
“Ashley pitched unbelievable in the tournament,” Noll coach Rich Sobilo said. “She kept fighting and fighting.
“We just care about fighting and having fun and that’s what we did. We told our girls to play loose, the pressure’s on them, we’re the underdogs. That helped us. I’m extremely proud of our seniors and all our girls.”
On Tuesday, Boone rallied twice, including down to its final out in the seventh. Ohio State recruit Taylor Stevens scored from second on a throwing error on Kellie Marcheschi’s grounder.
The Warriors took a 2-1 lead in the eighth on Gordish’s groundout to score senior second baseman and Valparaiso recruit Brittany Anderson. The Wolves answered with Elise Richards’ RBI single.
That same combination of Anderson and Gordish gave Noll a 1-0 lead in the first, with Anderson singling and scoring on Gordish’s single.
“Nobody deserved to lose,” Saunders said.
Two-time state runner-up Boone Grove plays No. 1 Elwood (25-4) at 10 a.m. Saturday in the semifinals of the LaVille Semistate.
“I hope this game doesn’t take a lot out of Boone Grove because they can go pretty darn far,” Sobilo said.
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff