2023 NewsTribune Softball Players of the Year: St. Bede’s Reagan Stoudt, Ella Hermes

Two big bats.

Two strong arms.

Two first-team All-Staters.

One state championship.

Ella Hermes and Reagan Stoudt teamed up to lead St. Bede to the Class 1A State Championship, outscoring their postseason opponents 53-10.

Both picked up key postseason victories and belted clutch home runs.

Both were First-Team All-Three Rivers Conference East Division picks along with being named First-Team All State by the Illinois Coaches Association.

They share the 2023 NewsTribune Softball Player of the Year honors.

“A lot of teams would be happy with one dominant pitcher. We were incredibly fortunate that we have two,” St. Bede coach Shawn Sons said. “Knowing we can throw either Ella or Reagan against any team and they can totally shut them down is a huge advantage.

“We don’t get to enjoy the history we’ve made without both of them.”

“A lot of teams would be happy with one dominant pitcher. We were incredibly fortunate that we have two. We don’t get to enjoy the history we’ve made without both of them.”

—  Shawn Sons, St. Bede coach

State champs

The excitement of winning the state championship has not worn off nor do the girls plan to let it any time soon. The Bruins have been the toast of the Illinois Valley with invites from numerous area eating establishments.

It is a moment players and teammates will carry with them the rest of their lives.

“It’s really exciting. I feel like it’s all of our personality traits now,” Stoudt said. “Being state champs is really cool. Some people are tired of hearing it. But, I mean, we made history. So you got to hear it.

“Dreams come true. You have four years to do it, and we did it. And we get to come back next year and hopefully repeat.”

“It’s still unbelievable. It was so fun. It was so big for our team,” Hermes said. “It’s always been a major goal, but we always had little goals to always get better to get to our bigger goal. It’s something we always talked about, but didn’t think it would come true.”

The state champs had a little rough go early in the season, dropping three straight games on their spring trip to Tennessee to teams from Ohio and Tennessee by a combined 25-11 margin. A couple games later, they fell to Kewanee 4-3, before embarking on a nine-game win streak before falling to eventual 2A champ Rockridge 8-0.

“It was definitely rocky in the beginning for sure. But we improved ourselves, obviously,” Stoudt said. “You keep going and wonder what’s next. What do we do now?”

The key, Hermes said, was “staying together and staying positive, knowing you will have downs, but always knowing we can go up.”

The sectional wins over Ridgewood (4-1) and West Central (6-1), avenging last year’s title game loss, pushed the Bruins over the top.

“Once we started beating everyone like that, we were all like hyped and on top of everything. ‘We can actually do this,’ ” Hermes said.

Friendly competition

The Bruins pitching duo pushed each other to their best, both at times wanting to out do the other.

Hermes led the staff with 1.46 ERA, 11 wins and 149 strikeouts. Stoudt was right there with her with 10 victories, a 2.70 ERA and 138 strikeouts.

“We love competing, so sometimes we compete against each other and wanting to get better than the other. It just makes both of us better,” Hermes said.

“In practice, [it’s] pushing to spin the best, throw the hardest. In the end, no matter who’s out there, they’re going to do great, because we have that push,” Stoudt said.

Stoudt admitted that when Hermes got the call for the sectional championship game, “I was a little bit upset I didn’t get to throw that, as everybody saw. Ella did a great job for sure. That was awesome, beating Biggsville.”

In the end, they both got to pitch in for the state championship game. Stoudt started the game, pitching into the fifth inning, with Hermes coming on in relief for the final three innings for the win.

“It was perfect. We both got to finish it out,” Stoudt said.

“It was kind of special we got to do it together,” Hermes said.

Sons said Hermes has a quiet but dominant presence on the mound.

“When her curveball is really working and she’s controlling both corners of the plate it’s game over,” he said. “With her play at shortstop and her ability to hit extra base hits, she’s quite a handful for opposing teams to contend with.”

Stoudt not only shut down opponents in the circle but did big damage at the plate. She led the Bruins with a .505 average with six home runs and 36 RBIs.

“Reagan is the type of athlete who always wants the ball in her hands,” Sons said. “She’s as comfortable on the mound as she is at third base or in the batter’s box. When both her rise ball and drop ball are on, she’s very tough for hitters to deal with.

“She’s a consistent hitter in the three hole, batting for both power and base hits. That’s a deadly combination.”

Both pitchers had a knack for helping their own cause at the plate.

Hermes, who batted .413 with 12 doubles and three triples, hit what proved to be the game-winning triple in the sectional semifinal win over Ridgewood and followed with a home run to break open the sectional championship game against West Central, both games she was pitching.

“When I pitch, that’s all I think about. I just want to help myself get a better lead,” Hermes said.

Stoudt, who went the distance, belted a key home run to put away the supersectional victory over Orangeville at Sterling.

“It’s nice to back yourself up. If you’re not doing good in the box you can go in the circle and just do your thing. I like that part of it,” Stoudt said. “Either one’s great. Hitting a dinger, striking out someone. Either one’s great.”

They’ve already thought about next year and defending their championship.

“[We want to] make a good run,” Stoudt said. “We’ve got a lot of returners coming back. We were definitely young this year. There will be some gaps missing, but I think we’ll have some underclassmen step up and fill those in.”

Hermes said there’s only one thing to do.

“Win again, hopefully,” she said.