Marist needed something … anything … to rescue a season that was slipping away fast.
Senior shortstop Maia Pietrzak was really something.
First, the Ball State recruit sacrificed her body in the infield. Then, she swung her bat with all her might.
“I would go to any length for this team,” Pietrzak said. “This is such a great group of girls. They’re just amazing. There is nothing I wouldn’t do.”
She knocked it out of the park Tuesday when the host RedHawks needed it the most for an 8-3 victory over Mother McAuley in a Class 4A Marist Sectional semifinal.
Pietrzak finished with a home run among three hits for Marist (33-2). Caroline O’Brien and Eileen Donahue each added two hits, while Gianna Hillegonds struck out four to record the pitching win.
Keira Jarrett homered and singled for McAuley (15-14-1). Cailyn McLean added two hits, including an RBI double.
The RedHawks will play for the sectional title at 4:30 p.m. Friday against York (17-14).
Marist trailed 3-0 after 3 1/2 innings, but it could have been worse.
Pietrzak made two excellent catches on bloopers toward the outfield. On another play, she made a sprawling dive and almost pulled it in before she rolled in the grass.
“I dislocated my left shoulder on that one,” Pietrzak said. “But then it popped back in, so that was good.”
On one of the catches, Pietrzak crashed into senior left fielder Morgan Rogers, but she held onto the ball.
“She was just trying to cradle me and make sure I was safe,” Pietrzak said. “But I turned around and face planted. I think I hit her abs with my face, my jaw. Her abs are just so rock hard. It really hurt.”
What more can a girl do?
Pietrzak led off the bottom of the fourth and belted a pitch from senior right-hander Mary Charniak over the center field fence to break the shutout.
“I just knew that I had to get it done for my team,” Pietrzak said. “Honestly, I knew as soon as I got that spark going, everyone would get on board and pile on for the win.”
And they did.
Four batters later, Gabi Novickas powered up for a two-run double to tie the game at 3-3.
“Maia’s home run kind of just lit a fire,” Novickas said. “It gave me more energy, even though I already was fired up. Just to see Maia, who is a leader on defense, step up on offense and hit that home run really hit close to my heart.”
It fired up “Turtle” O’Brien as well. She tripled to lead off the bottom of the fifth, after which Pietrzak did it again, ripping an RBI single to left that put the RedHawks in front for good.
“Ha-ha, I knew I just needed to get on and that Maia was next,” O’Brien said. “Maia can bring a spark anywhere, any way. She is a huge leader on this team.
“It was nice that she led us on defense and also had our back on offense. When she had that, we all had it.”
For the season, Pietrzak is batting .441 with 48 runs, 12 doubles and 43 RBIs. Her eighth homer brought Marist’s state record-setting team total to 88.
RedHawks coach Colleen Phelan had an interesting conversation Monday about her with former Marist standout shortstop Brooke Wyderski.
“Brooke showed up and was giving lessons on our field,” Phelan said. “She walked up and I go, ‘You know that Maia Pietrzak is better than you at shortstop, right?’ She laughed and said, ‘I know she is.’
“Maia is literally an absolute gamer. She is laying out for every single possible play, clutch as anything. She’ll definitely go down as one of the best defensive players we’ve ever had.”