A shoulder brace wrapped around her right shoulder, a chunky knee brace hiding a majority of her left stirrup, and for half the game, a full set of catcher’s gear.

The grind has been anything short of grueling, but taking the diamond with her teammates is what keeps Herscher‘s four-year senior catcher Keira Ahramovich going, a team chemistry that allowed the Tigers to finish the regular season as winners of 16 of their last 21 after a sluggish start.

“The girls make the most of it, definitely,” Ahramovich said. “I come here for the girls. They pick you up when you’re down. It’s really all about the girls.”

In Monday’s Class 2A Manteno Regional quarterfinal against Peotone, it was Ahramovich who picked up the Tigers, launching a tie-breaking two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to propel Herscher’s late-inning rally and 8-2 win at Herscher.

The Tigers (18-16) will have a quick turnaround before they face defending state champion Beecher in Tuesday’s regional semifinal. Still, after the fortune Ahramovich found with her go-ahead shot off of Peotone’s All-State ace and Louisville commit Sophie Klawitter, they might be feeling a bit like Cinderella.

“I got lucky on that,” Ahramovich said. “I caught her riseball early. Once again, she’s a really good pitcher. I just got on it early. It was like magic, I guess.”

Playing as the visiting team on their home turf after morning storms moved the game from Peotone, the Tigers applied the pressure with small ball early, scoring a pair in the top of the first despite an Ahramovich RBI double being the only ball hit out of the infield.

Klawitter locked in and retired nine straight and 11 of 12 batters between the first and fourth innings. She also doubled and scored on an RBI groundout by her sister Mary Klawitter in the first. Madilyn Scheffers scored on an error in the second, the only run before Tigers starter Lily Tucek settled in for what looked like a classic pitcher’s duel down the stretch.

But after a Mikaela Vadebonceour double in the fifth was the Tigers’ first hit since Ahramovich’s two-bagger in the first, the senior backstop sent a high 0-2 riseball the opposite way over the left field fence.

“She’s a very good pitcher, she’s going D-I,” Ahramovich said of Klawitter. “You have to know her, know that she has a very high spin rate. I came into this game knowing that, knowing she’ll be junky throwing curves, riseballs, changeups.”

Tucek didn’t need any more insurance, but she got it anyway in the seventh. With the sacks packed, shortstop Lexi Crawford cleared the bases with a three-run triple and was reunited with Vadeboncour, Reese Hartman and Ahramovich at home after the throw to third landed in the Herscher dugout.

After striking out and bunting her first two trips to the dish, Crawford quickly fell behind an 0-2 hole. But she fouled a pair off and coaxed a full count before getting her pitch.

“I was really nervous and knew I’d get some crazy pitches being down in the count, so I really tried to work the count,” Crawford said. “Then, when I heard the umpire say it was a full count, I knew I’d get something down the plate. I saw it go in the gap and just ran until I saw the ball go in the dugout.”

Tucek allowed an earned run on two hits, both to Sophie Klawitter, two walks and eight strikeouts in a complete game. One half of a formidable pitching duo alongside Anna LeSage, Tigers coach Mike Cann has seen his arms develop in front of a defense that’s also grown since the Tigers’ early-season slump that saw them lose seven of their first eight.

“Anna will eat innings and get pop outs and make our defense work,” Cann said. “Lily moves the ball around also, and we have great defense behind her.”

Sophie Klawitter was charged with seven earned runs on nine hits, three walks and 12 strikeouts in a complete game. The Klawitters are one of three sets of sisters on the Blue Devils, along with Ava and Adyson Kosmos and Payton and Paisley Schnelle.

For Sophie Klawitter and Ava Kosmos, Monday was the last high school game and game with their sisters. That, paired with graduating perhaps the program’s best-ever player in Sophie Klawitter, made Monday an even tougher end of the season than most for coach Kim Pagliarulo.

“It’s really hard,” Pagliarulo said. “When you coach girls for five years straight in this age group, coaching them from junior high through high school, the first time you’re meeting them is with braces and a little lisp, all the way up through 18. That’s why I love my job. It matters and is so fulfilling. It’s priceless.”

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From left, Herscher's Lexi Crawford leaps as she approaches home plate and is greeted by Tigers teammates Keira Ahramovich, Reese Hartman and Chloe Kinkade greet her after Crawford's three-run triple and run on an error during a Class 2A Manteno Regional quarterfinal against Peotone at Herscher Monday, May 18, 2026. (Mason Schweizer)