Central's Ellen Amodei just misses the tag at first against the Southwest All-Stars in Sunday night's game at the Pyle Center in Roxana. Photo by RUSLANA LAMBERT

And the South Bend, Ind., All-Star did just that. A lazy, floating single that landed near the right-field line scored sister Angela Gillis from second, and the Gillises and their team celebrated their dramatic 2-1 win on the first day of the Senior League Softball World Series.

“I’m excited,” is all the modest, and somewhat speechless, Maria Gillis could muster after her walk-off hit in the team’s opener against the Southwest All-stars.

“Our defense came through. I thought they did well,” Central Manager Pete Gillis (Maria and Angela Gillis’ father) said after the game. Despite the end-of-game heroics, Pete Gillis admitted that he was disappointed with the team’s lack of offense

After a walk and two stolen bases, Alli Catanzarite scored Central’s only other run in the second inning on a passed ball. After that run, the game remained scoreless until Southwest’s Ashley Perez — who had singled earlier in the inning — scored on a Jenevieve Jiminez single to right field in the sixth. Maria Gillis only allowed one more hit, however, and no more runs the rest of the game, stifling the team from San Antonio as she had done for most of the game.

“She was making us swing at pitches she wanted us to swing at,” said Southwest’s manager, Joe Leal, adding that his players weren’t patient at the plate Sunday. But, he said, “They’ve got the heart and the character to bounce back.”