Softball: Shea Simons back from illness, powers WFC to regional title over Dwight

DWIGHT — Last Wednesday, Woodland/Flanagan-Cornell junior pitcher Shae Simons had to miss her team’s Class 1A Dwight Regional semifinal victory due to illness.

Now on the mend, Simons wasn’t about to skip the Warriors’ regional championship matchup with the host Trojans on Saturday.

There, Simons seemed like she’d never been sick a day in her life, allowing just two hits in seven innings while facing only 24 batters, striking out nine and walking none to help lead No. 3 seeded WFC to a 4-0 shutout of No. 2 seed Dwight on its home field.

“I was super excited to be back with my team, and when I missed the game Wednesday I just knew I had to get back as soon as possible to do my part and win a championship,” Simons said. “People know I’m sick when I don’t play in a game, because I’m never going to pass up a chance to compete with my teammates. I felt so strong as if I’d never been sick at all, and I was proud of my performance coming back and helping us win another regional championship.”

Simons upped her personal record in the circle to 15-10 with 220 strikeouts on the year after the Warriors earned their second consecutive regional crown and seventh in program history by shutting down their Tri-County Conference foe. The two teams split a pair of regular-season league contests earlier in the season.

WFC (19-10) now moves on to the Class 1A Walter Lutheran Sectional semifinal Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the grounds of Melrose Park’s Ruby Field, where it will battle No. 2 state-ranked Newark (29-1).

The Norsemen defeated the Warriors 6-3 in last year’s tense sectional championship matchup at Dwight.

“We know we’ve got a tough task ahead of us with Newark, but today Shae (Simons) really helped earn us another chance against them. She was on fire, hitting her spots, and the rest of the team played great defensively,” WFC coach Mike Hoekstra said.

“This is my first year as head coach, and I’m so happy for our program to win a second straight regional championship with all the credit going to our girls, Coach Farris (former head coach Jordan) and Coach Friese (assistant coach Dave) who set us up for another great moment like this.”

Dwight (16-10) could only manage two hits off of Simons and only one significant scoring chance.

“I think the nerves got the best of us with a young team and only one senior,” Dwight coach and former Trojan standout pitcher Dezi Leonard said. “We’ve never been on a big stage like this in a while, and she (Simons) really had our number today. But I’m proud of our girls for producing a fine season.”

WFC got to Dwight starting pitcher Madi Ely (7 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 6 K, 3 BB) with two unearned runs in the top of the first inning.

Olivia Chismarick (2 H, 2 R) led the game off with a single to right, went to second on a passed ball, before Ella Derossett reached second base on an error that allowed Chismarick to score. Cloee Johnston then plated Derossett with an RBI single to left that gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead after just half a frame.

Simons took a perfect game with five strikeouts into the fourth before with one out Megan Livingston registered the Trojan’s first hit to no avail.

Cheyenne Burns then put WFC up 3-0 in the top of the fifth with a run-scoring single to center that scored Chismarick.

Simons then helped her own cause in the sixth when she singled to left, went to second on a sacrifice bunt from Kaiden Connor, stole third base and eventually tallied on an infield groundout from Clara Downey to give the Warriors a 4-0 lead.

Dwight’s only real scoring threat came in the bottom of the sixth when with two outs, Erin Anderson doubled to the fence in left-center, went to third on an error before Simons closed the door and then pitched a flawless seventh frame with her last strikeout that closed out the championship proceedings and sent WFC to the next round.

“All of my movement pitches were working today, and when I got that last strikeout I was so happy,” Simons said. “We’re definitely going to have to be at our best against Newark in sectionals. But I know this team can overcome being an underdog, and I can’t wait to get a chance.”