‘Something special’: Aubriella Garza’s record-breaking homer leads Oswego to first IHSA state softball title

PEORIA – Aubriella Garza started crying before the seventh inning even started.

She said she blacked out during the last out.

When the Oswego senior third baseman came to, she was at the bottom of a dogpile.

Oswego softball is a state champion.

[ Photos: Oswego wins Class 4A state title ]

Garza slugged her program record-breaking 14th homer of the season, a solo shot in the third inning, for the game’s first run, the first of her three hits.

Jaelynn Anthony struck out eight in a four-hitter.

The Panthers went on to a 4-1 win over Barrington in the Class 4A final on Saturday at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex for the Oswego program’s first state championship.

“This team is something special, honestly,” said Garza, who will play collegiately at NIU. “It’s amazing to have made history and taken first and proven that we can do it. But it’s also sad because I grew up with these girls and this is our last game together. They mean everything to me.”

Garza, a four-year starter and one of 10 seniors, has been there from the ground floor up.

When Garza arrived as a freshman, Oswego was still nearly four decades from its last regional title. Oswego softball didn’t have a winning season for 22 years, from 1995-2016.

But Oswego (38-2) snapped that regional drought last year, won its first sectional title in school history and took third in Class 4A.

They took the next step Saturday.

“Freshman year Aubriella walked in with no idea what would happen. If she had a conversation with me right now I’d just tell her wait for your time,” Garza said. “That’s what this game is about. It’s about failure and moving forward from your failures. We showed from last year we could do it.”

Garza, owner of Oswego’s career records for hits, doubles, RBIs and homers, never hit a bigger one than hers with two out in the third Saturday.

And she knew it was gone.

Her towering fly ball to left cleared the fence for a 1-0 lead.

“I knew right off the bat,” Garza said. “I can tell very few times, but it was like ‘Oh, that’s gone.’ It really meant something honestly. I don’t know how to describe it. Year before down here, didn’t have the best at-bats. Being able to do it here was special.”

Garza later hit a booming double that one-hopped the fence in right-center to start Oswego’s two-run fifth, and singled in the sixth, boosting her record career hits total to 188.

Her 14th homer snapped a tie with her teammate, Anthony, for the program single-season record.

“That was a storybook ending for her,” Oswego co-coach Annie Scaramuzzi said. “It’s awesome for that to cap off her career. She is an easy person to cheer for, an incredible person, an amazing teammate. An even better person than a softball player.”

The homer was the first run all weekend allowed by Barrington’s Katie Taraschewsky, who went all 10 innings Friday to shut out Lockport 1-0.

Taraschewsky (31-4), too, was gutsy in defeat Saturday.

She was touched for an unearned run in the fourth on Savannah Page’s RBI single. Three consecutive errors in the fifth led to two more Oswego runs for a 4-0 lead.

Oswego’s Kennedy Gengler and Natalie Muellner each reached on errors to bring in runs.

But Taraschewsky gave her team a chance against an Oswego lineup that scored 400 runs this season, three more than Barrington, despite traffic in all but one inning and five errors behind her.

Barrington (35-4-1) finished as state runner-up for the third time.

“I think she threw 217⅓ innings this year. Nobody does that. Our school record is 255, from 1995 because we only had one pitcher,” Barrington coach Perry Peterson said.

“Just incredible. The kid is such an intense competitor. We followed her lead in pressure situations. If we would have played a little better on the defensive side which we have been so stellar at it might have been a different story. Taking nothing away from Oswego.”

Anthony (22-1), similar to Oswego’s last two wins, had two batters reach base in the first inning Saturday.

But she worked out of it, then retired eight straight batters. She struck out the side in the third and took a no-hitter to the fourth.

“Jaelynn, any pitcher really, the first and seventh innings will be the toughest innings,” Oswego senior catcher Kiyah Chavez said. “But she gets in a mind that she wants to win.”

Chavez, similar to Garza, found herself in tears before the final out.

“Devastating to know that this will be our last game together, me and Jae. I’ve said a million times how special she is to me,” Chavez said.

“Just realizing this is my last time wearing this jersey, with this group of kids. Incredibly special team. Blessed to be a part of it.”

Scaramuzzi has been a part of it with the Oswego softball program, first as a pitcher and now as a coach. As a senior she helped lead Oswego to its first conference title in 32 years.

Now she’s the coach of a state champion.

“It’s hard to put into words what this means,” Scaramuzzi said. “Just an immense feeling of pride, a full circle moment, incredibly proud of this group.

“This program means so much to me and it means so much to every single person that’s a part of it to see them come out on top is amazing.”