State Softball: Quitting Is Not An Option

In three of its last four games, the Sterling Softball team was
trailing going into its last at-bat, and proceeded to put
runners in scoring position each time.

A late-game lesson just in time for the new high school sports season ...

Big plays might make sports games seem insurmountable at certain points. However, the finishes are almost always at a predetermined period of time down the road. Leading up to that ending, a trailing team's challenge of coming back when time is short begins to take shape.

The Sterling High School varsity softball team understood that situation when time was short during the final inning of its sectional final game against Marengo on June 1.

Down 5-1 with two outs in the seventh inning, the Golden Warriors' last breath brought new life into the team. They were able to score five runs without getting that fatal out to win the sectional championship and later advance to the IHSA Class 3A State Finals at EastSide Centre in East Peoria on June 6-7.

Sterling brought to East Peoria the knowledge of what it is like to have backs against the wall and to get themselves out of it.

Head coach Rick Henderson attributes this to attitude – a popular motto within the program.

Sterling's first game at State was against Marquette High School of Alton, Ill. The Golden Warriors were unable to win the game, falling 3-2 to try for either third or fourth place in Class 3A. Much of the troubles came against Marquette pitcher Alexis Silkwood, one of Illinois's top pitchers.

“We've had attitude shirts that we've bought for the past five years. We try to preach attitude, attitude, attitude,” Henderson said after the game. “They took that right into the batter's box today against one of the best pitchers you're going to see in a while. Every single player stepped in there with an attitude, with a belief, with something on their mind that they could do to help this team. I saw no quit. All season, let alone today.”

Marquette posted a 3-0 lead in the third inning and the Golden Warriors were only able to tally up on before the bottom of the seventh inning. That's when Sterling junior Karlie Mellott banged out a leadoff homerun off Silkwood past the right field fence. That momentum shift brought back the feeling of fighting with time running out, although coming up short in the end.

“We never quit,” Mellott said. “We never quit. All the way down the stretch getting here, with the tough game in the sectional, we never give up. We're all in the dugout yelling, cheering everybody else on, picking everybody else up. You can't teach that. As a team, that's so great to see.”

“We never let up. Every time we're in the dugout, we're always constantly cheering and making sure that we have each others backs,” said fellow junior Darien Bardoner. “You can see on the field when one of us strikes out, the next one does something to pull each other up. We've always had each other, and that's how we've been since we were little. It paid off for a sectional championship, but we were so close this time.”

Now having to face off against Tinley Park High School in the consolation game, this would be the team's last showing of the season. Despite posting a 4-2 lead after five innings, Tinley Park came back to go up 5-4 before the bottom of the seventh, and the backs against the walls again.

Mellott, leading off once more, doubled to left field and later came to third on a sacrifice. With the tying run 90 feet away, a grounder to the shortstop ended the second comeback run in a 24-hour span.

Despite being an all too familiar feeling, Sterling's dugout appeared cheerful and determined once more during that seventh inning.

“Although we didn't come out winning any games, it's still a great experience to be here,” said Sterling senior Stephanie Kester, who pitched both games for her team. “It takes a good team to be here, and we did that.”

It is safe to say that the fourth-place finish was made possible by the team's attitude.

“People are going to ask them questions not about how you lost, but about how in the world you keep fighting like you do,” concluded Henderson, who recently stepped down as head coach to spend more time with family.

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."

Magnificent Milledgeville

For the past 37 years, the image of an Illinois high school softball state championship being won depicts a mob gathering somewhere within the infield dirt. Yells, screams and other loud cheers compliment that typical setting.

Such scenes are what high school softball players, such as those on the Milledgeville Lady Missiles softball team, dream of as soon as the postseason draws near.

However, Milledgeville didn't experience that particular picture at this year's IHSA Class 1A State Finals at East Peoria's EastSide Centre.

They dreamed about it, alright. That was supposed to be the "finish" in their season motto of "Finish The Dream."

Last year the Lady Missiles won its last game of the season, within the confines of EastSide Centre, but it was in the consolation game in a 4-1 victory over Tuscola in which they pounded out 14 hits.

With six of nine spots of last year's starting lineup returning this year, that third place trophy - the first IHSA trophy of any kind in school history - didn't quite mean the end. The dream wasn't finished yet.

Not even the departure of Sarah Spears, the team's head coach during the third-place run, would hinder the chances of accomplishing even more.

Brad Grenoble would step up and take over the reins.

"It started at the end of last year," Grenoble said. "These girls came and hit the cages 3-4 times a week all winter, even the girls that play volleyball and basketball; they're still in the cages three times a week. They knew they were close and had to get some better stuff."

Twenty-six wins and three losses later, the Lady Missiles made their way back to East Peoria for the final act.

The scene wasn't all that bright, as dark clouds hung over EastSide Centre throughout the weekend. With the way they were taking shape during Friday's semifinals, a decision was made to begin Milledgeville's game with Illini Bluffs of Glasford 45 minutes earlier than expected.

The throng of Milledgeville fans that gathered to watch the first semifinal game between Toledo Cumberland and Goreville all flocked to the next diamond over when the announcement was made that the game would be played there.

After warmups, a light drizzle made its way onto the diamond with the scene of more to come on the other side of the right field fence. Not quite the picturesque setting. They were about to play in the rain.

Four went up and three went down for the Lady Missiles in the first at-bat. Then EastSide's lightning detection siren went off to halt everything. At least 30 minutes were needed after the sight of the first bolt, and the delay wound up being 40 minutes long.

Still, the sprinkles continued.

The Tigers struck first after Nicole Russell reached third base on a hit to right field that went to the fence. Two outs later, she was plated by Katie Young's laser single to left field.

But the Missiles would come back in the next at-bat. Consecutive singles by Morgan Adolph and Kayleigh Leddy paved the way for Kelsey Hayen's shot to center field. Adolph scored on the play, but Leddy was gunned down at the plate. The Missiles would still get that go-ahead run though when Liz Bryant's groundout created the scene for Hayen to dart home successfully.

Adolph helped put the Lady Missiles ahead by two with a hard double to center to score Jenna Bibler, who ran after Emily Bush's double earlier in the inning, and Courtney Swalve, who reached on a fielder's choice.

"We got aggressive on the bases," coach Grenoble said. "You have to make things happen in games like this. You don't want to lose by one or two runs, so we just got aggressive, put the ball in play and just kept running the bases. We had a good day."

Illini Bluffs was only able to get back one of the runs in the third inning before the floodgates broke open. Milledgeville's, that is. Not from the rain.

The Lady Missiles tacked on five runs to get into double digits for a 10-2 lead. Breyana Henson and Ally Bush each had RBI doubles, and Emily Bush, Swalve and Adolph each had RBI singles. Just like that, the Lady Missiles were in firm control of the game and allowed just one run for the duration.

Adolph's RBI was her third of the game, and was on her third straight hit of the game.

"We're pretty confident in our lineup one through nine," Adolph said. "We know we can produce runs, and we expect everyone to have hits and contribute to the team. Once we do that, we know we have control of the game and we can do whatever we want. We can pretty much win any game that we want to."

Emily Bush was able to shrug off early issues in the pitcher's circle after the offensive barrage. Five of her eight strikeouts came in the last four innings.

"This team we definately don't know a whole lot about," Bush said. "They're good hitters, probably one of the best hitting teams that I've faced all year. It kind of took me a little bit to get used to that and where to throw. But luckilly I have teammates behind me that can really hit the ball, and that's nice to have as a pitcher."

The game was not without a strange moment, however.

In the fourth inning, Henson would score on Ally Bush's double. After getting settled in within the dugout, Henson noticed that an old wound had come back from all her work - which would wind up being the first domino in the pivotal offensive onslaught.

Henson doesn't like blood.

Assistant coach Joe Leddy noticed his fainting player and called from the dugout to the first base umpire for a time out. While coaches, teammates and medical personnel rushed over to see what was happening, confusion didn't seem to reign during it all.

"She saw her own blood."

It made sense to everyone that knew her. But still, procedures had to trump trust in these cases. She had to be taken from the dugout and evaluated, afterwhich she returned to the dugout all smiles.

"I'm not very good with blood and needles. I cut open my knee and looked at it, and then, yeah, I was gone," Henson said.

But she made it.

"It's amazing being able to come here for the second time back-to-back," Henson said. "It's a great experience to be able to go for first or second."

One more win.

While the semifinal game was played in not-so-pleasant conditions, the Class 1A championship game appeared to be delay-free. The sun was shining during Goreville's consolation win over Illini Bluffs, but when the National Anthem was about to be sung, the small drops made a return.

Not a problem for the Lady Missiles. After all, they were used to playing with a few pelts on them.

Emily Bush allowed one hit in the first inning before the offense came to work.

With one out, Taylor Grenoble reached base when her chopper to third base was misthrown. Then Emily Bush came aboard when her liner to left field was almost caught but not.

After Swalve struck out, Adolph continued her offensive power trip by taking the first pitch she saw from Kaylee Carlen and crushed it deep to the left-center field berm. She equalled the RBI total of her last game on one swing to take an early 3-0 lead.

"We know that when we come out and we have hits in the first inning, we set the tone for the game," Adolph said. "That's how we want to play: we want to come out first and we want to score first. We give oursleves a lot more confidence knowing that we have control of the game when we come out and score first."

However, Cumberland would come back and send five players to the plate before the first out. Olivia Titus's double plated Micah Siebert, who led off with a walk, and Taylor Layton, who singled. Jasie McMechan walked and Carlen was hit by a pitch to load the bases with none out.

Bush got Ashley Greger to strike out swinging before Kyla Thornton hit an offering to left field. Titus and McMechan scored, but the Lady Missiles got an out from it by gunning down Mariah Huddleston - running for Carlen - at third base.

Down 4-3, Hayen was first up in the top of the second. She would single-handedly tie the game up by taking a 3-2 pitch from Carlen over the left field fence. It was Hayen's first home run of the season.

Cumberland threatened once more in their half of the second. With one out, Siebert and Layton singled and Titus walked to load the bases again. However, this would be an much easier jam for Bush to get out of, getting McMechan to ground into a force out at home and getting Carlen to ground out to Adolph at third. Another nailbiter had come and gone.

Milledgeville would get the go-ahead run in the fourth inning. Leddy and Hayen led off with singles before Bryant and Henson struck out. With a 1-2 count, Ally Bush laced a single into the outfied to send Leddy and Hayen around third. Only Leddy would score as Hayen was gunned down at the plate for the final out.

Both teams would threaten to get another run in the fifth inning. Cumberland put two on before Emily Bush got Carlen out swinging for her third punchout of the inning. Her and Grenoble led off their half of the inning with singles. However, Bush's runner, Bibler, was caught stealing second and Grenoble was caught napping on a double play.

By this time, the rain had started to get a little heavier.

To lead off the sixth inning, Paige Oakley was called upon to pinch hit for Greger. She took the opportunity and seized it with a leadoff single to left field.

Then came the high handwave from tournament director Dave Gannaway from behind the backstop. That meant the game was to be halted because of the weather.

It was 2:34 p.m.

Two and a half hours of heavy rain fell on the diamond before the first evaluation could properly take place. The tarp only covered the infield, and the outfield grass and dirt became a concern.

The tarp finally came off of the infield at 6:10 p.m. After that, it was decided that another two hours was needed to get the field back into playing shape. The scheduled restart time was 8:15 p.m.

Not even that would be a reality.

All the Milledgeville players, coaches and fans could do was wait. The Cheeseman Coach charter bus was the Lady Missile headquarters. Five hours were spent on the bus, except for a brief period when the all-clear was thought to hold. From about 3:30 to 4:00, the players made their way back to the dugout, only to be called back after another storm cell came about.

Ultimately, it was decided that whatever the groundscrew was able to do was not going to be done by a 10:00 p.m. recommended deadline, per the IHSA State Softball Terms and Conditions.

At around 7:30, Milledgeville was crowned the Class 1A State Champion.

The celebration took place in a parking lot.

The dream was finished in a parking lot.

Not exactly the visual ending that was dreamt of.

"We never thought it would end like this," coach Grenoble said. "The IHSA tried doing everything they could, but the fields weren't just good enough to play on or were safe. And they couldn't (Sunday), I guess because the rule says that you have to finish it the same day.

"We hit better this year after putting the time in. Things just don't happen sitting at home. They put a lot of time in on their own, and they deserve it."

Nonetheless, the awards ceremony was moved onto the alternate diamond - where about 30 hours ago the Lady Missiles beat Illini Bluffs to make it to the title game. The players came out onto the diamond from the opening next to the visiting dugout, hand holding hand onto the field and stopping along the line between second and third base.

"It means everything. We did it as a family. It's the first one in our community and in our school," Adolph said. "We brought a lot of pride in our community by doing this, and we've kind of given Milledgeville a different look by saying that we can succeed and we can do whatever we want when we really put our minds to it and we have the determination to do it."
After recieving the individual medals, the Lady Missiles hoisted the championship trophy with a dark sky behind them in the background.

But there was a shine alright.

Just beyond the left field fence, a rainbow tried to take shape. At one end of it were the Lady Missiles. Can you spot the rainbow below?

1A/2A State Softball: The Wet Weekend That Was

In an event that is all about kids trying to accomplish the goal of winning a state championship, a mother stole the show at this year's IHSA small school State Softball Finals in East Peoria.

Mother Nature, that is.

Rain made this year's Finals an interesting one. With rain on the horizon, a decision was made to move Milledgeville's Class 1A semifinal game with Illini Bluffs from EastSide Centre's main diamond (Mizuno Field) to the alternate diamond (Diamond 3). The game started at 11:45 a.m., 45 minutes before the scheduled start time, and played at the same time the other 1A semifinal between Toledo Cumberland and Goreville was wrapping up.

Small droplets of rain pelted both diamonds throughout the afternoon, and a lightning delay stalled action for at least 30 minutes. Then with more rain coming, another decision was made to start St. Bede's Class 2A semifinal game with Tremont at 2 p.m. - one hour earlier than the scheduled start.

While Milledgeville was wrapping up a 10-3 semifinal win over Illini Bluffs, St. Bede was struggling with the unbeaten Turks and trailing 4-1 after three innings.

Then came another delay in the action. But it did nothing to stop Tremont from surging ahead to a 6-1 lead. In the top of the seventh, the Lady Bruins were able to put two on the board, but it wasn't enough for a 6-3 loss.

The playoff winning streak snapped, the Lady Bruins had to regroup to try to close the season out with a win the next day – or so they thought.

Rain didn't quite skew the scheduling of games at EastSide as difficultly as it did for the IHSA State Baseball Finals at Dozer Park in Peoria. The Class 2A semifinal tilt between Eureka and Pleasant Plains was halted in the bottom of the fifth inning, and resumed at 9 a.m. the following morning.

However, the rain created an unprecedented scenario for the Softball State Finals.

The Class 1A third-place game between Goreville and Illini Bluffs (a 13-6 Goreville win) was played without a trace of rain. Then when the National Anthem was about to begin for Millledgeville's title game with Cumberland, the droplets made a comeback.

Off and on the drops appeared until a barrage of them was too much for the game to be safely played.

At that time, Milledgeville led Cumberland 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning. Paige Oakley reached base on an error by Jenna Adolph at third base to put one on with no out. Due up was the one, two, three hitters for the Pirates.

However, the momentum came to a halt as IHSA personnel motioned to home plate umpire Roger Pfeister to halt the game at around 2:30 p.m.

The tarp was stretched out to cover the infield dirt and the waiting game began.

It rained.

And rained.

And rained.

And rained.

Then the sky got dry at around 3:15 and a hint of sun appeared from the sky. Both Milledgeville and Cumberland made their way back to their respective dugouts at around 3:30.

But on the other end of the sunshine was another storm cell. About a half hour after returning to the dugouts, both teams returned back to their respective tournament headquarters'.

It rained.

And rained.

And rained.

And rained.

The IHSA personnel gathered for a meeting with personnel from EastSide Centre under the picnic area near Diamond 3. There, several calls were made, several glances at radars were made, and several strings had to be pulled in order to get things back up and running again.

At around 5:15 the rain had finally let up to where a small sprinkle was the only concern. Fifteen minutes later, the outfield was being evaluated by plenty of muddy feet. During this time, the IHSA personnel paced along the tarp to ponder its decision: there was still a 1A champion to be crowned, with both 2A games yet to be played.

Existed was a chance that St. Bede and Nashville (who lost 3-2 to Kankakee Bishop MacNamara in the other semifinal) would tie for third place in 2A, similar to what Moline and Elk Grove Village went through in Class 4A in 2009.

The tarp came off of the infield at 6:10. At least two hours was needed to get the field back into playing shape.

Target time was 8:15 for the 1A title game to be resumed. Then the decision was made to push the 2A games to Sunday. St. Bede and Nashville would start at 11 a.m. and Tremont and Bishop MacNamara would battle for the 2A title at 1 p.m.

Fighting a recommended curfew time of 10 p.m., there was simply no way the field was going to be playable that night. The chances of injury were too great with a swampy outfield – especially in a case where two teams that can hit the ball one-through-nine can give outfielders a workout.

Just 45 minutes before the game was set to resume, the decision was made over the loudspeaker. The game was declared official and Milledgeville celebrated a state championship on its charter bus.

Had the game been halted at any point before the midpoint of the fourth inning, chances are the game would have been resumed at a later date. After all, according to the IHSA Terms and Conditions in section VII, sub-section J, paragraph 1: “The first priority is to crown a champion.” However, the game was already official, having been stopped in the top of the sixth inning.

Section VII, sub-section D explains postponements further. Paragraph 1 states, “If a game in any tournament must be postponed because of rain or wet grounds, or if a game is called by the umpires because of rain, darkness, or other reasons that are in accordance with the National Federation Softball

Rules, it is ruled a 'suspended game and shall be continued from the point of suspension at a later time' unless provisions of Rule 4-2-3 have been met making it a regulation game. Any game that is not an official game will be considered a suspended game.”

Paragraph 5 states, “It is recommended that no start or continuation of a suspended game will begin

later than 10:00 p.m.”

Moving the conclusion of the 1A title game to a future date would be in violation of Paragraph 1. Imagine a case where the IHSA did decide to resume the 1A title game to another date, and Cumberland came back to win. Could Milledgeville protest to the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS), the governing body of all softball rules?

All said and done, Diamond 3 – which was not tarped during the long delay – was put into use for the awards ceremony. The Milledgeville team and faithful made its way there first, followed a few minutes later by those from Cumberland. The Milledgeville fans and players applauded at the sight of Cumberland arriving to claim its second place trophy.

With the diamond lights on, a dark sky beyond the left field fence, and a lighter sky beyond the right field fence, Milledgeville hoisted the 1A championship trophy, while a visibly upset Cumberland squad held onto the second place trophy with proper care.

Thus ending a very interesting Saturday at the IHSA State Finals.

But there was one more day left.

St. Bede, who was all smiles before and even after its 6-3 loss to Tremont, kept thinking positive about the whole situation. This being the first time that the program advanced to the State Finals, the “happy to be here” vibe was certainly apparent.

The Lady Bruins came away with a trophy, alright. It was the fourth place trophy after a 1-0 loss to Nashville.

No rain involved.

(Throughout the week, NISB will be updated with bits of coverage from this year's 1A and 2A State Softball finals.)

Milledgeville, St. Bede Headed To EastSide

Only two area small school teams survived the Memorial Day weekend.

Both will be trying for IHSA State Softball titles this weekend in East Peoria. The State Final games will take place at EastSide Centre's Mizuno Field.

Milledgeville and St. Bede punched their tickets to the 38th edition of the state series with supersectional wins on Monday. Both supersectional games took place after one another at Mary M. Bell Field on the campus of Northern Illinois University.

Milledgeville (26-3) advanced to the Class 1A State Finals for the second year in a row, downing Putnam County 4-1. Since a 13-0 loss to Dakota on April 9, the Lady Missiles have won all of their games and  have only given up more than three runs in a game just once: in a 10-6 10-inning tilt against Orangeville in the sectional final.

The Lady Missiles are coached by Brad Grenoble, who is in his first year in that capacity after Sarah Spears resigned after last season. Grenoble's name may be familiar to the area sports scene elsewhere, as he is the owner and general manager of the Sauk Valley Predators professional basketball club.

In the quest to improve upon last year's third-place finish, the Lady Missiles will be taking on Glasford Illini Bluffs (an 8-1 winner over Gardner-South Wilmington also on Monday) at 12:30 p.m. Friday. Goreville has also advanced to the 1A finals, and two more teams (Hardin Calhoun and Toledo Cumberland) will be playing today to earn the fourth and final berth.

St. Bede (24-5) advanced to the Class 2A State Finals - its first appearance in program history - by beating Aurora Central Caholic 6-1. Senior pitcher Lanie Schweickert (pictured above) struck out 14 Charger batters while allowing just one hit.

The Lady Bruins, coached by Bill Prokup, are on an eight-game winning streak, and three of the five losses have come on a summer trip to Murphysboro, Tenn.

Awaiting the Lady Bruins in its first State game at 3 p.m. Friday is one of either three teams. Sherrard, Tremont and Williamsville will be playing today to determine the final berth. Sherrard and Tremont will face each other at EastSide in a sectional championship game, with the winner immediately playing Williamsville in the supersectional game. Nashville and Kankakee MacNamara are playing in the other 2A semifinal at 5:30 p.m.

(Northern Illinois Sports Beat will be at EastSide this weekend covering both St. Bede and Milledgeville's time at State. Check back here for game stories and more.)

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Two area baseball teams made it past the sectional round, only to have their seasons eliminated in supersectional play.

In 1A, River Ridge saw its season end at the hands of Putnam County 6-4 at the Benedictine University Supersectional in Lisle. In 2A, Oregon saw its season end by Eureka 7-6 at the Augustana College Supersectional in Moline.

Both Oregon (Big Northern West) and River Ridge (NUIC West) finished conference seasons below the .500 mark.

Welcome to the NEW Northern Illinois Sports Beat!

As of today, this is what Northern Illinois Sports Beat will look like.

How did you like the redesigned homepage?

In the next couple of weeks, I'll have a few posts regarding the state hardball tournament, as well as important things during the website's hiatus that I bottled up in my head before today.

All NISB stories will be posted here.

Stories that begin with "Cutter:" will be considered opinion pieces.

Hope you enjoy the new setup, as well as the new-look Message Boards. If there are any questions and concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Cody Cutter
Publisher, Northern Illinois Sports Beat