St. Laurence’s Jordan Ogean is going to Arizona State this fall to study nursing.
But first, the senior third baseman wants to play a little more softball.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be playing (in) college so the goal is to make the absolute best out of it,” Ogean said. “Let’s have the best time and have fun.”
She did that on June 6, hitting a walk-off sacrifice fly to score Kayla Howard as the Vikings won their own Class 3A sectional with a 3-2 victory over Nazareth.
Ogean was called out on strikes in the third inning and left two runners on base. When she came up in the seventh, the Roadrunners had just intentionally walked Vanessa Kates to get to her.
“That was terrible,” Ogean said on her previous at bat. “They walked Vanessa because they did not really think I could produce anything. I felt it was kind of a motivator to do something better.”
“There is no one more deserving of that moment than Jordan,” Vikings coach Teagan Walsh said, “She had a rough day up there. But something about that look in her eye — I was like, ‘She’s going to do something.'”
St. Laurence was down 2-0 going into the seventh, but wasn’t panicking.
“We had three outs to play with and needed not to give up,” Walsh said. “We just have those leaders on our team that just know how to fire them up. They pulled us together.”
One of the leaders is junior pitcher Maddie Misch.
She went all seven innings, allowing two runs on two hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts.
Everyone was loud once Aoibhe Lander (3-for-4) had an RBI fielder’s choice to score Hannah Marusarz and tie the game 2-2.
Then Ogean delivered.
“Seeing Jordan come up, that was the highlight of my year,” Misch said. “I knew what she was capable of. I knew she had to do it for herself. I knew she had to do it for the team.”
Nazareth coach Chrissy Johnson believes playing in the East Suburban Catholic Conference has prepared her team to make deeper runs into the playoffs.
“We have had a lot of competitive games,” Johnson said. “Whether we win or lose early in the season, it prepares us for this point. The more that we can challenge ourselves the better off we are going to be.”
Nazareth (16-16) continued a productive run that has included three straight regional titles and a sectional championship last year.
Senior pitcher Annabella “Bama” Rychetsky was a four-year starter for the Roadrunners.
She went 6 2/3 innings against St. Laurence, allowing three runs and striking out four. At the plate, she was the only Roadrunner with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-2 with a walk.
“She pitched a heck of a game,” Johnson said.
Meanwhile, freshman first baseman Reagan Drye delivered a two-run single in the sixth inning.
“She’s got a lot of grit and resilience that we’ve seen throughout the season and she proved it there,” Johnson said.