H&R Staff Writer
EAST PEORIA – Josh Maxwell couldn’t hold in the emotion any longer.
Minutes after his Shelbyville softball team advanced to the IHSA Class 2A state championship game in grinding fashion on Friday night, the joy of victory and sorrow of death merged.
Just an hour before the Rams (33-7) began their march toward a 1-0 victory against Alton Marquette, Maxwell’s mother, Jane, lost a 7-year battle with cancer. Then his team went out and continued the school’s best season ever.
“It’s more than a roller coaster of emotion right now,” Maxwell said through tears. “She was all ready to watch the game online. She was with us though. She watched it.”
Shelbyville’s standout pitcher Grace Moll said Maxwell’s resilience throughout the day inspired the team to position itself for the state title.
“He’s been so strong today,” Moll said. “I think our motivation was him being so strong out there. We saw him at the hotel and he was pretty low and we’ve never seen him like that before. So we were like ‘We’ve got to go out, we’ve got to play our game.’
“And when we play our game things like that happen.”
The win puts the Rams in the 2A title game at around 7 tonight in East Peoria.
Leroy’s take
Turning point
With two of the state’s best pitchers dueling, the difference was razor thin. It came in the top of the third with Katelyn Coleman at the plate and the game scoreless.
A push bunt by Coleman forced Marquette pitcher Alexis Silkwood into a tough play and her hurried throw to first was off line. Coleman reached second on the error and moved to third on a dropped-third strike to the next batter, Hollie Schultz.
After Hannah Dudley walked and Taylor Rhodes struck out, Shannon Boone came through. Boone dropped in an RBI single behind the second baseman, giving the Rams the lead and Moll all the run support she needed.
“The big play was the push bunt that we didn’t make the play on and that kind of started the inning,” Marquette coach Dan Wiedman said. “Like we say, ‘They’ve got a bat in their hands at the plate, they’re dangerous.’ You’ve got to give them credit.”
Players of the game
Shelbyville’s defense. Normally, Moll would take home this honor, but her pitching combined with stellar defense was the difference. Moll struck out six, walked just one and gave up only one hit, plus she had quality support.
Marquette put 16 balls in play and the Rams committed just one error – a dropped flyball in left that didn’t lead to any damage. On top of that, the infield made all the routine plays and Schultz made a not-so routine catch in right to back up Moll.
“I have so much confidence in my defense right now,” Moll said. “It’s awesome to have a defense behind you because a lot of times you just have a pitcher or stud third or stud hitter and when everyone one your team is a stud, it’s exciting.”
Pitchers' duel
As expected, Silkwood and Moll were stingy.
Silkwood was the best pitcher Shelbyville faced all season, according to Moll, and the stats backed that up. Silkwood finished with 14 strikeouts and didn’t allow an earned run. Unfortunately for the lefty, the runner who reached on her error ended up scoring the winning run.
“Her movement was great,” Moll said.
Okaw love
The Okaw Valley Conference had plenty of non-Shelbyville fans in attendance cheering on the Rams. At least one St. Teresa fan, along with a host of Maroa-Forsyth followers made the trek to cheer on their conference member.
After all, Shelbyville is hoping to help make the Okaw’s case for the best small-conference softball league in the state. After knocking off Carterville (who’s from the powerhouse Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference) earlier in the postseason and now playing for the state title, the Rams are making a tough argument.
“From 1-12, I don’t think they can hang with us,” Maxwell said. “The Okaw is just tough. They make us better by playing us every night.”
Quotable
“We’re going to the state title game. We hadn’t won a regional before this year and it’s a lot fun. These girls work their tails off. They deserve a lot of credit. They’re just awesome. They’re awesome.” – Shelbyville coach Josh Maxwell
Looking ahead
Just Morrison (30-7) stands between Shelbyville and a state title.
The Fillies outlasted Lisle 9-4 in eight innings before the Rams won to advance. The two teams don’t have a common opponent given that the two schools are separated by more than 4 hours.
A glance at the stats gives an edge to Shelbyville because of Moll. Morrison has two pitchers it uses equally demonstrating it doesn’t have someone as dominant as Moll.
Last season, Morrison took third place at state.
lbridges@herald-review.com|421-6970
Published in the Herald & Review in June 2011
