Bloomington Central Catholic survived a late push from Monticello Thursday night, holding on for a 5-4 victory in a tightly contested regional matchup.
BCC struck first in the top of the third inning when Durako reached on a single and later scored after Gibbs reached on a dropped third strike, giving the Saints a 2-0 lead. Bloomington Central Catholic added another run in the fourth as Ellie drove in Welch to extend the advantage to 3-0.
Monticello answered in the bottom of the fifth with a huge inning. Meadow Miller delivered an RBI single to score Ali Weidner and cut the deficit to 3-2. Later in the inning, Sadie Walsh reached on an error that allowed two more runs to score, giving the Sages their first lead of the night at 4-3.
The Saints responded immediately in the sixth inning when Landrus launched a solo home run to left field, tying the game at 4-4.
The deciding run came in the top of the ninth. Durako came through again with an RBI single to score Wait and put Bloomington Central Catholic ahead 5-4.
Moritz earned the complete-game victory in the circle for BCC, allowing five hits and four runs while striking out 14 over nine innings.
Durako led the Saints offensively, finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI and two doubles. Welch added two hits while Landrus homered and drove in a run.
For Monticello, Meadow Miller had a pair of hits and an RBI while Emma Lawhead, Annie Robinson, Madison Highland, and Sadie Walsh each collected hits. Cassidee Stoffel struck out nine in the complete-game effort.
Bloomington Central Catholic finished with 10 hits while Monticello totaled five.
#8 Cassidee Stoffel with the strikeout for Sages.
#17 Madison Highland with the DOUBLE for Monticello.
#22 Thea Key with the SMOOTH steal for the Sages.
Monticello catches the runner in between second and third to record the out.
#18 Meadow Miller with the RBI single for Monticello.