It’s probably a tossup as to who has the most golden glove in Marist’s extremely talented outfield.
In sophomore right fielder Bree Hanik’s mind, however, senior left fielder Morgan Rogers has them all covered in one category.
“She has such quick feet,” Hanik said of Rogers. “She’s always ready for the ball. And she’s always giving it her all. I know she’ll make that diving play.
“I trust her. We all trust her.”
They all hugged her Monday after Rogers was the defensive star for the host RedHawks in a 3-0 victory over Lockport in the Class 4A Marist Supersectional in Chicago.
Gabi Novickas, Caroline O’Brien and Isabel Cunnea each hit home runs for Marist (35-2). Gianna Hillegonds struck out five en route to a four-hit shutout.
Kelcie McGraw, Giuliana Giordano, Addison Foster and Ava Swain had the hits for Lockport (31-8). McGraw struck out six.
Marist will play Barrington (35-5), a 9-1 winner over Warren, at 5:30 p.m. Friday in a state semifinal game at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria.
Rogers, a DePaul recruit, made six catches during the game, including her last three in the seventh inning. Her best was a spectacular diving effort that ended a rally by the Porters in the top of the fifth.
It was preceded earlier in the inning by highlight-reel grabs from Cunnea in center and Hanik in right.
“We were just making sure we were keeping calm,” Rogers said. “We knew we had to do it for our team. Every play, we were like, ‘All right, we’re going out. Bodies on the floor. No balls dropped.’”
While Rogers and Co. took care of Hillegonds on defense, the power-hitting trio of Novickas, O’Brien and Cunnea took care of her with their bats.
Novickas’ blast in the bottom of the second was her 18th of the season and broke a scoreless tie. It was a first-pitch, no-doubt swing.
“I watched a little bit of their previous game on streaming,” Novickas said. “I could see what their pitcher’s go-to pitch was. And before my at-bat, I watched as she was kind of trying to get ahead on the first pitch.
“I knew I was going to swing right away.”
O’Brien hit her fifth homer of the season leading off the third. Cunnea’s home run in the fifth was her 22nd, tying Angela Zedak for the school single-season record.
For Rogers, it was the happiest day of her high school career. She’s had a fair share of tough ones.
After serving as a pinch-runner during her sophomore season, she missed her entire junior year with an ACL injury.
Finally securing a starting spot in left field as a senior, she suffered a major injury scare on April 21 when the RedHawks were taking some swings before heading to Evergreen Park for a tournament.
“It was optional hitting,” Rogers said. “We had two screens set up like we normally do. I was pitching to one of my teammates, and on another set of hitting, Bree Hanik got a pitch pretty inside and turned on it.
“I was going to get a ball and her hit smoked me right in the left cheek.”
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The scene, according to Marist coach Colleen Phelan, was quite emotional.
“We were all crying on the field,” Phelan said. “When she went down, her face was completely blown up within seconds. We called 911 immediately. The ambulance took her off and I went to visit her at (Advocate) Christ (Medical Center).”
Amazingly, there were no broken bones. Rogers returned within a week.
The most relieved was Hanik.
“I was so thankful,” Hanik said. “I couldn’t even believe it happened. It was so shocking. That she wasn’t badly injured was actually a miracle.”
Rogers took it all in stride, even joking about it.
“Yeah, I was like, ‘If it was Isabel or Gabi, I’d have probably lost some teeth or something,’” Rogers said, laughing. “But Bree hits hard, too, so it definitely hurt.”