2024 NewsTribune Softball Player of the Year: Ella Hermes likes to ‘strike them out’

Ella Hermes is the kind of softball player who can lift her team with one swing of the bat or take down the other team’s hitters from the circle.

She likes being a dual threat.

“I knew I could help my team if it wasn’t a pitching day, it was a hitting day. If I wasn’t hitting, I was pitching,” she said.

And she did both very well.

The St. Bede senior standout batted .484 with five homers, 26 RBIs, 34 runs, nine doubles and seven triples, ranked among the area leaders in every category.

She led all pitchers with a 12-1 record, 1.30 ERA and 172 strikeouts, was named the 2024 Tri-County Conference Softball Player of the Year and and earned a spot on the Illinois Coaches Association Class 2A All-State second team.

For all she accomplished this season, Hermes is the 2024 NewsTribune Softball Player of the Year.

“Looking back at Ella’s season this year, she kept getting better and better as it went on, and that was a direct result of her work ethic as a student-athlete, which is second to none. She puts in a lot of work away from practices and games perfecting her game,” St. Bede coach Shawn Sons said. “She will no doubt go down as one of, if not the most decorated softball players/three-sport athletes in school history, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Ella is a great teammate and person. She’s very passionate about everything she does. She is very respectful, coachable and always wanting to improve, and very appreciative of her teammates and coaches.

“The future is very bright for Ella. I’m looking forward to see the great things she’s going to accomplish in the future.”

After winning the state championship, anything short the next year could be looked at as a disappointment.

The Bruins (22-6-1) repeated as regional champions for the third straight year, falling in the sectional semifinals to Riverdale 2-0 after being bumped up from Class 1A to 2A.

“I felt good about our season. We just fell short,” Hermes said. “We got to play everyone’s best game. Like everyone was out to beat us. Once we got to playoffs, we kind of just lost it a bit, I’d say.”

Hermes was able to put that last game behind her and move on.

“For some reason, when I’m not pitching, this kind of sounds bad, after the game, it just leaves my mind,” she said.

When asked whether she likes hitting a home run or striking someone out more, she doesn’t hesitate. She loves getting the punch outs while pitching.

“It’s fun when you get to strike someone out. I mean, a home run is good, but the strikeout is so much better,” she said with a laugh.

Hermes never relies on a scouting report ahead of games, she just trusts her stuff.

“I never really look into teams before because you never know how someone’s going to hit that day,” she said. “I always go in there, kind of with an open mind. I know one of my top three pitches, one of them’s going to have to work.”

She has a riseball and a screwball in her arsenal, but her go-to pitch is the curveball, which she picked up her sophomore year.

“Curveball, definitely – 100%,” she said. “When I started throwing it, it just hit me.”

St. Bede catcher Bella Pinter, Hermes’ battery mate throughout their high school careers, said she loved catching her.

“She has great side-to-side movement, and when her riseball is on, it’s deadly,” she said. “She’s an amazing pitcher who can also dominate at the plate. I am so excited to be able to continue playing with her at [Illinois Wesleyan University], and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the both of us.”

Hermes is playing for the Peoria Sluggers travel team this summer. Her next pitches and swings will come for the IWU Titans in Bloomington, where she will get to play along side Pinter once again.

“I’m very excited. Going there with Bella, I think it will be fun,” said Hermes, who plans to study kinesiology along with some sports management, perhaps. “I visited there, and I loved it. I love how they keep everything updated. Everything is new. You know where your money’s going to go. Also the team chemistry and bond they have. And I love the coach, Tiffany [Prager]. She’s the sweetest person ever.”