2A softball: St. Bede stopped 2-0 by Riverdale in sectional semifinals

PEORIA – Sometimes you do everything right, and the outcome doesn’t come out in your favor.

This was the story for the St. Bede softball team in the Class 2A Peoria Notre Dame Sectional on Wednesday against Port Byron Riverdale at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria.

The Bruins played almost flawless defense and recorded one more hit than the Rams, but couldn’t get runs across as they fell 2-0.

“We needed to make some adjustments as far as timing goes. We kind of struggled with that a little bit,” SBA coach Shawn Sons said. “Defensively, I thought we did everything we needed to do. The girls’ mood was great. Sometimes you just get these games where they won, and we didn’t. I can’t make any excuses, it is what it is.

“Not breaking and staying composed has been these girls’ strong point since last year when we made the state run. I keep saying it, they’re even keel. They never get too high or too low. They did it here. They didn’t press. It wasn’t a matter of pressing too hard and trying to do too much. It was just the timing.

“Their pitcher [Brie DeBlaey] had a lot of off-speed pitches. She threw outside a lot also.”

DeBlaey struck out only two SBA hitters and gave up five hits as Bruins senior Ella Hermes hit a double, senior Bella Pinter was 2 for 3 with two singles, and Lily McClain was 2 for 2 with two singles and a walk. However, besides McClain getting thrown out at home after gambling on a Riverdale overthrow at third when coming from second on a sacrifice bunt from Maddy Dalton, the Bruins never had a base runner reach third.

Senior pitcher Reagan Stoudt threw six innings for SBA and allowed four hits and two earned runs while striking out three and walking none.

The sectional semifinal was scoreless heading into the bottom of the fourth when Riverdale’s Lexi Duke scored a run. Duke scored the second run for the Rams in the sixth inning. Riverdale’s four hits came from Duke, two singles, and cleanup hitter Katie Cox, who hit a triple in the second and an RBI double in the fourth.

After winning a state championship a season ago, Sons and the Bruins are disappointed they weren’t able to win a second consecutive title.

At the same time, they know they have plenty to be proud of.

“The seniors certainly are going to be missed very much. When these seniors were underclassmen, they were a big help to the seniors and the varsity team for the victories they got,” Sons said. “The same thing happened with the lower levels we have now. A lot of them were here today. They played very well against Riverdale. I always say, ‘We don’t want to rebuild, we want to reload.’

“The seniors who are leaving are definitely going to be a big hole to fill. We have some players that we’ll bring along and keep moving forward. I don’t want them to use this as a defining moment in their career, because these kids are some of the most decorated kids in St. Bede history for all of their accolades.

“They’re going to continue to get more accolades, because all-conference and all-state are going to come out.”