Underdog Gardner-South Wilmington earns program’s first state bid with 2-0 upset of Macon Meridian

The Gardner-South Wilmington softball program has enjoyed a lot of success dating back to the 1980s.

With their 2-0 upset of Macon Meridian in the Class 1A Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional at Bloomington’s Inspiration Field on Monday, the 2026 Panthers are enjoying something no other GSW softball team has enjoyed before.

They’re heading to state.

“It’s actually insane,” said senior ace Maddie Simms, who pitched seven shutout innings Monday and made GSW’s two second inning runs hold up the rest of the way. “I can’t even believe it. Just going all the way, it’s crazy. I couldn’t be prouder. I couldn’t be more happy.

“I’m so happy, and I’m even happier that I get to do it with my friends.”

Simms’ friends had a heavy hand in Monday’s victory.

It was the Panthers’ third win this postseason over a team seeded higher than them and second over a sub-sectional No. 1 seed. They advance to Thursday’s 12:15 p.m. 1A IHSA state semifinal against downstate Waltonville at Peoria’s Louisville Slugger Complex.

Seeded third in their sub-sectional, Gardner-South Wilmington (27-11) is the only non-No. 1 seed in 1A’s final four.

The heroics that got it there began in the first inning. After back-to-back hard-hit singles off Simms by Meridian’s Shelby Renfro and Morgan Knierim to open the game, Meridian gifted GSW the first out of the ballgame with a popped up bunt.

A passed ball allowed the runners to move up to second and third – a troubling predicament indeed – but an out-of-nowhere double play erased the threat. Ashley Schelling’s deep fly out to GSW left fielder Liv Siano was hauled in and fired in on a rope to catcher Kayla Scheuber to cut down Renfro trying to tag up for the third out.

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The Gardner-South Wilmington softball team celebrates with their Class 1A Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional plaque after defeating Meridian 2-0 Monday June 1, 2026 at Inspiration Field at Carol Willis Park in Bloomington. (Mason Schweizer)

Meridian managed only two more hits and did not get another runner past second base against Simms (7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 10 K). Siano added a nice catch in the sixth following a crowd-pleasing diving catch of a line drive by third baseman Bree Stein to start the third.

“I feel like once you see that your defense is playing so well behind you, it’s easy,” Simms said. “It gave me a lot of confidence to just throw around the zone, let them hit it and let my defense work.

“I think I settled in pretty well.”

“I’m riding that senior horse,” GSW coach Matt Finn said of Simms. “Twice in the playoffs [Simms has] told me to go back and sit on my bucket. ‘I’ve got it, and I’m going to mow ’em down.’ As a coach, how could you not love that?

“She’s the sweetest girl. You want her babysitting your kids. But you don’t want to be in that circle with her. She’ll run you over and back over you.”

Gardner-South Wilmington's Bree Stein makes a diving catch in the Class 1A Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional against Meridian at Inspiration Field at Willis Park in Bloomington Monday, June 1, 2026. — Gardner-South Wilmington's Bree Stein makes a diving catch in the Class 1A Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional against Meridian at Inspiration Field at Willis Park in Bloomington on Monday, June 1, 2026. (Mason Schweizer)

Finn’s run support came early too, and Scheuber – who was on the back end of the game-changing double play to end the top of the first – this time started the fun. Her sharply hit ground ball single through the circle past Meridian pitcher Schelling (6 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 K) to open the home half of the second was followed by three bunts, a Stein RBI comebacker and two Meridian errors.

When the dust had settled, the Panthers had two runs and, with the way Simms was dealing and the defense was shining, were on their way to the state semifinals.

“Kayla got the big hit for us,” Finn said. “Then we just tried to put pressure on their defense. We knew we’d be in trouble with their pitcher ... and I’m glad we found a way to get a couple runs there.”

“I was looking for the first opportunity to hit,” Scheuber said, “and as soon as I got the first strike, I was on it. I wasn’t waiting. ...

“I was pretty nervous coming here, but after the first three innings, I was like, ‘You know, we’ve really got a shot. We can do this.’ ”

The defensive lapses in the second that included two errors – the only errors committed by Meridian (26-9) – proved to be the difference.

“It’s something that we work on every day in practice – bunt coverages, handling that situation," said Meridian coach Greg Streeval, his Hawks finishing the final season of his 28-year career 26-9. “I just think we were tight and we didn’t get where we were supposed to be and didn’t make the plays.”