Senior catcher Angelina Elias has a favorite phrase she likes to use when talking to her pitchers for St. Laurence.
It’s a mental game.
“With the amount of pressure a pitcher has, we just need it as a check,” Elias said. “It’s like, ‘Keep your head up no matter what. You worked hard to get here.’
“We need to hit the spots. Don’t overthink it. Have confidence.”
She gave that advice to herself Tuesday and it paid off handsomely for the host Vikings, who beat Evergreen Park 7-2 in a Class 3A St. Laurence Sectional semifinal game in Burbank.
Elias hit a tiebreaking double in the sixth inning for the Vikings (21-7), who advanced to play Nazareth (16-15) at 4 p.m. Friday for the sectional title.
Jordan Ogean added two hits and three RBIs for St. Laurence. Aoibhe Landers had two hits, while Vanessa Kates reached base four times and tripled. Maddie Misch worked 5 2/3 innings in relief.
Molly Goyke reached base twice and scored a run for Evergreen Park (18-15).
Elias, meanwhile, is stepping up in the clutch for the Vikings during her only season as the starting catcher. As a junior, she sat behind senior Norah Burke.
“At first, it was just a learning experience on the bench, seeing some plays I could do,” Elias saId. “I also used it to learn from the mistakes I saw from the bench.
“I’m glad that I have the chance to catch this season for St. Laurence. I consider it a blessing.”
Elias showed senior moxie in a few ways during Tuesday’s victory.
First, she put Misch in a good frame of mind. The junior right-hander came on in relief in the second inning with one on, one out and the Vikings trailing 2-0.
“She kept telling me, ‘This is just a mental game, this is just a mental game,’” Misch said. “I totally agreed with her. She calmed the game, helped us play our game.
“Ange is always supporting her teammates. She’s always coming up every single pitch to talk to her pitchers. She always has that high energy.”
Elias made her first big play on a catch and sweep tag at home plate on a throw from third base by Ogean. It thwarted a scoring chance by Evergreen Park in the top of the fourth.
Watching and learning as a junior paid off when St. Laurence coach Teagan Walsh noticed.
“Yes, she’s solid behind the plate,” Walsh said. “She had to wait her turn to get that starting spot, but she worked her heart out. She just does everything the right way.
“Angelina always hypes her pitchers, which is probably one of my favorite things. And she takes charge. She has grown so much this season with her communication and her IQ of the game.”
Ogean tied the game at 2-2 for the Vikings with a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth. After Alyssa Cervantes doubled to lead off the sixth, Elias stepped to the plate with redemption in mind.
Two innings earlier, Elias came up with runners on second and third with two outs and took a called third strike. Not this time. Elias worked the count to 2-2, then fouled off two more pitches before hitting a rope to the gap in right-center for an RBI double.
She wasn’t going down looking.
“I was like, ‘No, you have to make some adjustments to help my team score this run,’” Elias said. “It felt so good when I hit the ball.”
Indeed, when Elias got to second base, she showed just how good it felt. She jumped and clapped with all of that high energy.
“Yeah, it was just seeing the team excited and pumped up that we can continue this journey,” Elias said. “It doesn’t matter the score. We’ll go like it’s game on.”
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.