St. Bede Positive Through State Run

When the IHSA went to a four-class system in softball in 2008, the number of dreams of reaching EastSide Centre went up.

St. Bede was one of those softball programs that had never reached the IHSA State Softball Finals. Ever.

The Lady Bruins reached a supersectional game only once before, back in 2006. In fact, that was just the second time that a St. Bede girls sports program reached the supersectional: In 2000, the girls basketball team was the first to win a sectional title in a 28-2 season.

History was on the minds of the Lady Bruins as they tried to navigate their way to East Peoria for the first time.

After finishing the regular season 19-5, the Lady Bruins had little problem getting through their own regional against Somonauk and Mendota, including the sectional semifinal against Alleman. Then came a 10-inning battle with Stillman Valley in which the Lady Bruins narrowly escaped with a 1-0 win.

The supersectional hump was finally passed at Mary M. Bell field among Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. The Lady Bruins defeated Aurora Central Catholic 6-1 and finally reached its destination that was the IHSA State Finals.

St. Bede's boys had reached the IHSA State Finals six times in baseball, most recently in 1992, and was in football's final four in 2000 in Class 2A. Now it was the girls' turn.

Light rain clouded EastSide Centre throughout all of Friday. One of the 1A semifinal games was moved to the alternate diamond, and a decision was made to get in all of the day's games as quickly as possible. St. Bede's semifinal game with Tremont was scheduled to start at 3 p.m. However, the game was pushed ahead to 2 p.m. due to the weather.

The shuffling would be enough to confuse a lot of people, but the Lady Bruins didn't seem to mind.

Head coach Bill Prokup, on the other hand, had just a slight problem.

"The only complaint I had about it is that we were here on time, and they weren't," Prokup said. "They moved back the game 20 minutes. I don't think the kids were effected, it was more my temperament.

"The kids wanted to play. They would have wanted to play at 11 o'clock I think. I texted them early on and said 'we're going to move practice, and they were all ready. I got 14 of the 16 texts back within five minutes. So I knew they were out and were eager."

They were out and eager right away.

Leadoff hitter Lydia Starhia was hit by a pitch by Tremont starter Jaycee Craver and advanced to second base on a groundout by Barbi Prokup. During the next at-bat with Lady Bruin pitcher Lanie Schweickert, Starhia stole third base to set up a possible bunting situation.

Schweickert did just that, and with the squeeze was able to reach base and bring home Starhia for a 1-0 lead.

However, the undefeated Turks came right back to equalize it when a wild pitch brought home a run. The momentum was all Tremont's after that, as they tacked on three more runs after five innings of play. In the fifth inning a rain delay appeared to stop all momentum, but the Turks tacked on two more for a 6-1 advantage.

With the score appearing as if the Lady Bruins were going to have a difficult time getting back, the seventh inning provided a boost of support. It was their last chance.

With one out, pinch hitter Lexie Miranda lined a double into left center field. After Sharhia walked, Miranda advanced to third to put runners on the corners for Barbi Prokup. One more Lady Bruin run was put up when Miranda came home on a fielder's choice, which could have been an game-ending double play. Starhia was forced out at second when Prokup's grounder reached Tremont shortstop Kali Sanders, who stepped on second base and made a throw to first. However, the throw was errant and Prokup reached and Miranda's run counted.

Tristin Phegley ran for Prokup, who reached second on the error. After she advanced to third on a passed ball and Schweickert drew a walk (and replaced on the paths by Julia Pohar), runners were on the corners for Emmi Christensen.

Christiensen provided the inning's second run with a single that scored Phegley. With two on and still two out, Morgan Dean came to the plate.

In the fourth inning, Dean nearly cleared the right field fence that perhaps would have started the Lady Bruin momentum swing earlier. In this last chance, it seemed fitting that Dean would have the opportunity to make something happen.

"Mo is crushing the ball," Prokup said. "I don't know if it would have been a different game if that ball would have been over the fence. It caught underneath the yellow and it was a lined shot. I think that would have helped us gain a little momentum back after that first inning."

Dean swung hard but bounced a ball toward Sanders, who threw to third to force Pohar and end the game.

The 6-3 loss was St. Bede's first of the postseason. The goal of winning the Class 2A State Championship was dashed. Feelings would be sour in these instances, right?

Hardly.

"I think we're all just really, really happy to be here," Dean said. "The first girls team from St. Bede Academy, which means a lot. Just the fact that we're here and we're playing is really uplifting and really fires us up."

"It's a great experience, and they're excited," coach Prokup said. "That's what you want to see. As a coach and a parent, that makes me feel pretty good. I'm disappointed that we lost, but you know what, we played a good team."

After the game, the girls all went back to the bus to find that lunch from Panera Bread was delivered to them. Some of the girls went back to the picnic table under a tent along the right field fence to eat and soak in the experience of being at the State Finals.

The positivity was flowing, as the girls relished in the fact that they were doing something incredible when it comes to the Academy itself.

St. Bede, a school which became co-educational in 1973, had a boarding program that lasted until the early 1980s. So it was a natrual sense of family and pride in the surroundings that has survived through the teachings over the years.

Such as thinking of each other. Not just the certain individuals, but the entire student body.

"This senior class of boys and girls at St. Bede has been wonderful," coach Prokup said. "They're very athletic and have had a lot of career victories. They're going to walk out of here with their heads high. This is the first ladies team to ever get down here, and no one can take that away from them."
Rebounding for the next day seemed like an easy feeling, despite the loss. After all, one of the most complimented aspects of the four-class state finals is that all teams that advance get to play twice.

The Lady Bruins practiced with a hitting session back home before coming back to East Peoria. When they got there, the 1A championship game was in the middle of a rain delay. One that went on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on.

The decision was made that 8:15 would be the first resumption point. Before that, different scenarios came about. One of which would be having the 2A championship game played before the third-place game. With time constraints, a possibility of a tie for third place between St. Bede and Nashville could have arisen.

However, the IHSA made an unprecedented call for the State Softball finals. The 2A games were to be played on Sunday. St. Bede and Nashville started play at 11 a.m.

Unfortunately, the Lady Bruin offense was nearly silent in a 1-0 loss.

But they brought home the fourth-place trophy in IHSA's Class 2A. They finished 24-7 on the year (not 18-6, as thought by those in the press box after the IHSA program left out seven games on the season smmary tally).

"I think we came out a bit slow," Schweickert said of the first game. "But it's just a really big accomplishment for us to get this far. We have a great group of girls. If we came out as we did in the last inning there, we would have been closer."

"There's a little disappointment, but what keeps us going is that we have all these unbelieveable fans," Dean said. "We keep the fact that we still get a trophy at the end and bring home a little hardware. All the fans - no matter what happens, they just keep us going. We try to keep each other going in the dugout. That's all that matters."