Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
SPRINGFIELD - In the last several seasons the Calhoun Warriors had been on the winning side of so many close games, especially the last three when they’ve made it to the final four.
That run of good fortune wasn’t there today.
Monday, the Warriors had a 2-0 lead against the Windsor-Stewardson-Strasburg Hatchets in the bottom of the fourth inning with Sydney Baalman cruising along. However, the Hatchets would tie the game up and go on to score seven unanswered runs to defeat Calhoun 7-2 in the Class 1A Springfield (University of Illinois-Springfield) Super-Sectional on Monday afternoon.
The loss breaks Calhoun’s incredible three-year streak of making it to the final four.
The Warriors season ends at 31-7.
“We knew this was gonna be a tough game coming in here. We had our chances. That’s all you can ask in a game like this, and we gave them a good game for awhile. We just didn’t get the big hit when we needed it,” Calhoun coach Duane Sievers said.
“[WSS] are a very good team. They deserve to go on.”
The Hatchets moves to 26-4 and earns a trip to the state semifinals in Peoria to face Argenta-Oreana on Friday. They also get their revenge on the Warriors from last season in the supers as Calhoun beat them 6-2.
“I don’t think we ever got down. There was some phases where we were concerned. I try to keep them excited. Keep them going,” WSS coach Craig Moffitt said. “We got a lot of mentally tough girls who’ve played in big games. They were ready to compete.”
University of Illinois recruit, Calla Roney struck out the side in the first while giving up a walk and a double, but Calhoun would capitalize in the second.
Senior Jessica Oswald lined an RBI triple all the way to the right-field fence scoring fellow senior Junie Zirkelbach. Two batters later, Emily Baalman grove in Oswald with a single making it 2-0 Warriors.
In third after walking two batters in a row, Moffitt, his first year at WSS, made a bold decision to swap out Roney for Megan Schlechte. Incidentally, Schlechte took over midway through the Calhoun game last season and held them scoreless.
It was deja vu, only this time the Hatchets came out on top.
Schlechte tossed four two/third innings striking out six, walking three and allowing three hits.
“It was time to make a move. [Calhoun] were having good at-bats against Calla who’s been an awesome pitcher for us this year,” Moffitt said. “Megan’s got a different repertoire of pitches, and I think it was just what we needed at that time.”
At this point in the season, mistakes are tough to get away with, and great teams will punish you.
Roney led off the fourth hitting a high pop up just in front of home plate. Catcher, Emily Baalman calmly camped under the ball, but it fizzled out of her glove and landed in fair territory. Sydney Baalman got the next hitter to pop out, but Hannah Hayes came up and hit a single to put two on. With two outs, Mackenzie Reynolds the seventh hitter in the lineup, roped a double to right tying the game at 2-2.
“Those little plays can give you confidence, do whatever we can to get some momentum and try to take advantage. We feed off those,” Moffitt said.
“Emily missed that pop fly. She hadn’t done that all year. Everything happened in that inning. That didn’t cost us the game. We just did not get a timely hit to break that game open early,” Sievers said.
Calhoun came close to getting the lead back in the following inning by loading the bases with two outs, but couldn’t push across a run.
In the bottom half of the inning, with runners in scoring position, Roney smacked a long RBI double off the left field fence, which gave them the lead for good at 3-2.
Reynolds would be back in the sixth torment Calhoun again.
She led off with a single and then stole second. With two outs, as she attempted to steal third, the throw was wild, and Reynolds scored; as a result making it 4-2.
After two straight walks, Schlechte helped herself with an RBI single up the middle and another run scored on a throwing error from the outfield that rolled into the Hatchet’s dugout. Schlechte would make it 7-2 after scoring from third on a passed ball.
Oswald, Zirkelbach and Emily Baalman are the only seniors on the roster but accomplished more than most softball players have. They claimed two state championships, a runner-up, four sectional titles and four WIVC titles.
“Our preseason goal was to get to state. Once the season started we took it game-by-game,” Sievers said about his team’s season. “We had a good 13-game winning streak. This is our first loss to a 1A team this year. We had a good season.”
