Notre Dame beats familiar foe for SoftballFest championship

Kelly was looking to exact a little revenge Saturday as it prepared to face Notre Dame in the championship game of the Notre Dame SoftballFest for the third consecutive year.

The Bulldogs prevailed in the previous two meetings and the Hawks were eager to snap the streak.

Kelly started well as it won the toss and chose to be the home team.

But it all went downhill from there.

In the top of the first, leadoff hitter Brianne Sanders laid down a bunt with Kelly pitcher Danielle Dock fielding the ball cleanly. But Dock's throw sailed over first baseman Kristen Powell allowing Sanders to advance to second. Sanders advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch for the early 1-0 lead.

Notre Dame's Lauren Reinagel delivers a pitch to a Kelly batter during Saturday's championship game of Notre Dame's SoftballFest. (Christian Berens)

In the bottom of the first, Kelly leadoff hitter Emily Grojean singled and went to second on a fielder's choice. But she was stranded there after a pair of fly ball outs.

Both pitchers began to settle down after that. Dock, who helped throw a combined no-hitter Thursday against Central, found her groove and breezed through the next two innings.

She ran into trouble in the fourth. Jane Morrill led off with a single to left and took second on a sacrifice. Alecia Glaus then ripped a double to left-center to score Morrill.

That would be more than enough support for Notre Dame ace Lauren Reinagel. Grojean's single to lead off the first was the lone hit she surrendered.

"I felt good. I felt confident tonight," Reinagel said. "I had a good warmup and I knew that even when they did hit me, my defense would be there."

Notre Dame 100 100 0 -- 2 6 1

Kelly 000 000 0 -- 0 1 2

WP -- Lauren Reinagel. LP -- Danielle Dock. 2B -- Reinagel (ND). Multiple hits -- Notre Dame: Brianne Sanders 2-3, Alecia Glaus 2-3.