Softball: LeRoy edges Marquette in 8 innings, moves on to Class 1A state

BLOOMINGTON – After seven innings of shutout softball Monday at the Class 1A Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional, the LeRoy Panthers and Marquette Crusaders managed to get on the scoreboard in the first extra inning.

After the Panthers put up two runs in the top half, however, the Crusaders could respond with only one in the bottom half, sending LeRoy to this weekend’s Class 1A state semifinals and sending Marquette home with a 2-1, eight-inning loss to end the Crusaders’ season.

“It was a good game,” Marquette coach Brad Oakes said. “Both teams are good teams. They just came out a little ahead of us today is all.”

The deciding factor of the ballgame were the runs scored in the eighth inning, it’s true. The story of the game, however, was the dominating efforts all seven innings of regulation by Marquette’s Kaylee Killelea (8 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 11 K) and her LeRoy counterpart, Lilly Long (8 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 11 K).

Marquette (24-7) managed to load the bases with one out in the top of the first but came away empty-handed when Long recorded a strikeout looking and an infield pop foul. The Crusaders got leadoff batter Lindsey Kaufmann – 2 for 2 on the day with a walk and a hit-by-pitch – to third base in the first inning and second base in both the third and fifth, but Long stranded her there every time.

LeRoy (32-6), on the other hand, didn’t begin threatening or even get a girl on base against Killelea until the sixth. Marquette’s senior southpaw left two runners on in the sixth and then worked out of her own bases-loaded, one-out situation in the top of the seventh with a fielder’s choice force at the plate and a swinging strikeout to keep her team in the game.

She was not, however, able to wriggle off the hook in the eighth, striking out LeRoy’s leadoff batter but then allowing back-to-back singles to Emily Mennenga and Morgan Fleming to put two aboard. Panthers No. 3 hitter Natalie Loy then stepped in and rocketed a line drive into center field that was certain to score Mennenga from second.

Kaufmann in center field – who made an amazing diving catch to preserve Killelea’s perfect game in the fourth – knocked down the hot shot, but lost her footing collecting it, prompting coach Doug Hageman to wave Fleming in as well. Fleming slid in safely, and the Panthers moved ahead 2-0.

“It’s been this way every game so far in the postseason,” Hageman said. “We’ve been down, we’ve been tied, and we just keep fighting.

“I think [working out of a jam early] kind of changes the mindset a little bit. I think it gave our kids a confidence boost. We came out a little nervous. I don’t think I’ve seen this many people at a softball game ... and you know, when we didn’t score out of that jam [in the seventh], their attitudes are just so good, they just keep swinging.”

Marquette didn’t go away quietly.

Kaufmann made certain she wasn’t stranded in scoring position a fourth time, blasting the first pitch of her eighth-inning at-bat well over the fence in left field for a one-out, solo home run.

“All I told myself was, ‘I’ve got to get on base somehow,’ and I guess I just went around [the bases],” Kaufmann said. “The pitch was kind of where I like it. It was a good pitch, and I knew [it was a home run].

“Our team was very close, and obviously we worked really hard to get here. It was just a lot of fun along the way.”

The rally started and ended with that one swing, however. Long induced a pop foul and a strikeout to end Marquette’s 1A Elite Eight season, which they reached with an 8-6 victory over Newark to open the holiday weekend, and propel the Panthers to play Illini Bluffs on Friday in Peoria.

“They’re my favorite team that I’ve ever coached,” Oakes said of his 2023 Crusaders. “They all just got along good and played well. We just came up a little bit short.”