With a combined seven years of varsity experience, Lydia Hammond and Evi McIntyre spent years taking part in senior day ceremonies recognizing their older teammates on the Bradley-Bourbonnais softball team. Tuesday, all eyes were on the senior duo who were recognized ahead of the Boilermakers’ home finale against Sandburg.

Taking her familiar spot in the circle, Hammond was nearly perfect on Tuesday and slugged an opposite field three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning that set the stage for a 5-0 win in SouthWest Suburban Conference action.

A four-year starter, Hammond had to fight back some emotions in the moments before first pitch Tuesday. But after allowing a leadoff single to Zoe Trunk, Hammond settled in to retire 15 straight batters on her way to a two-hit performance over 6⅔ innings that included five strikeouts. At the dish, she went on to add singles in her final two at-bats.

“Coming in freshman year I was a really timid freshman, I was really nervous,” Hammond said. “Just seeing the growth our team has made and that I’ve made throughout these four years as a person and player has been crazy.

“Stepping on this field again is an amazing feeling, and knowing this could be one of the last times I step on this field is an emotional feeling, but I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”

After Hammond’s homer, the Boilers were kept off the board by Sandburg starter Jaclyn Donnelly until Shannon Lee’s bases-loaded single in the sixth netter the game’s final two runs. Hammond recorded the first two outs of the seventh before she was removed to receive a standing ovation from the crowd, with Abbie Hofbauer recording the final out on the rubber.

The Boilers (22-8, 11-4 SWSC) visit Stagg Friday before their postseason begins at next week’s Class 4A Normal Regional. They’re the top seed of the sectional they’re hosting the following week, and while nothing is guaranteed, Hammond hopes she and the Boilers can win a sixth straight regional next week to defend their home turf.

“I love this field so much,” Hammond said. “There have been so many memories here shared with my teammates. Knowing that I can step on this field again another time is amazing feeling and we will be here again.”

The Boilers’ home field is at the Bradley-Bourbonnais Youth Softball League complex in Bourbonnais, where McIntyre and Hammond were first T-Ball teammates more than a dozen years ago. They’ve grown up on those diamonds, playing rec league and travel ball together before becoming Boilermaker teammates, with McIntyre a third-year varsity contributor.

“It’s just a full circle moment for us,” McIntyre said. “We grew up playing this sport together, I’ve known her for such a long time. She’s been such a good friend and teammate that’s had my back. She always believes in me and I always believe in her.”

McIntyre batted eighth as the designated player on Wednesday and finished 0 for 2 with a walk. While Hammond has fought through a hip injury she suffered early in the season, McIntyre learned she had a torn labrum just days before the season started, limiting her to the batter’s box and basepaths this season.

But whether it’s in the stat sheet, where Hammond’s racked up the eye-popping numbers that won her last year’s Daily Journal Player of the Year award and All-State first team honors, or the example both players set, coach Haylee Austell knows as small as this year’s senior class is, they’re quite mighty.

“You hear about the flashy stats and all those things, but those two are the undisputed leaders of our team,” Austell said. “It’s not because they’re seniors and it’s not because they do it the same way, but when they speak, people listen, and when they act and talk, people take notice.

“It’s something as simple as one in the circle, kind of getting all that glory, and the other is the first one to go catch a bullpen session and be the loudest person in the dugout because of an injury. They see both aspects of that and both do a great job.”