Softball: Newman outdueled by Princeville in sectional semifinal

STERLING – In what turned out to be her final softball game as a Newman Comet, senior Jordan Morthland pitched well enough to get a win.

But Princeville pitcher Bridget Gilroy proved to be an equal match, and it was the Lady Princes that pushed across a run in a 1-0 sectional semifinal victory.

Morthland was solid in the circle, allowing just one run and scattering seven hits while striking out six and walking two. She threw 62 of her 95 pitches for strikes, and stranded Princeville baserunners in scoring position in three different innings.

“I was throwing my dropball outside, because they were staying back in the [batter’s] box off the plate, so the drop outside was really working, and throwing the changeup in there really put them off-balance a couple times to put me ahead in the count,” Morthland said. “Sometimes I was throwing the riseball and it was working; I even threw it as a first-pitch strike and they would chase after it, so that would put me ahead in the count. I was just working the ball in and out, trying to get something off the end of the bat.”

Gilroy was equally adept for Princeville (8-10). She gave up just three hits in a shutout, striking out five, walking two and hitting a batter. She worked out of a second-and-third, one-out jam in the first, then allowed just three baserunners over the next four innings.

“The screwball was my go-to pitch for 90% of the pitches, and that really gets in on their hands and does ‘em dirty,” Gilroy said. “And the knuckleball was pretty on point today; it didn’t break as well as it has been before, but it did the job and it worked out well.”

Princeville scored the game’s only run in the top of the fourth. Emmaline Perkins led off with a triple and Kinley McGinn followed with an RBI single on the next pitch. Breckan Bottenberg followed with another single to put runners on first and second, but Morthland avoided further damage thanks to some help from Princeville.

McGinn was called out for leaving second base early on a steal attempt, then Bottonberg was thrown out trying to take second base on a pitch in the dirt. After Gilroy drew a walk, Morthland induced a soft line drive to Ady Waldschmidt at shortstop for the third out.

Newman’s best scoring chance came in the bottom of the sixth. Morthland drew a one-out walk, then Carlin Brady was hit by a pitch. Skylar Savage hit into a fielder’s choice for the second out, but Sophia Ely beat out a slow roller to load the bases.

Kennedy Rowzee followed with a ground ball, but it went right to the Princeville first baseman, who stepped on the bag for the final out.

“One pitch at a time; everybody says that and it’s cliché, but it really did focus my mind,” Gilroy said about her mentality to get out of that jam. “It was the next pitch, then the next pitch, and I was able to get that easy ground ball for the third out before they scored.”

“The one thing we’ve been stressing all year when we get into those pressure situations is to make sure we stay relaxed and be able to stay calm and get the outs that we need to,” Princeville coach Brian Holt added. “We just try to get them calm and make sure the moment isn’t any bigger than it has to be.”

Gilroy also worked from behind in the count to the first two hitters in the bottom of the seventh, but came back to record a pair of strikeouts and get a check-swing groundout from Madison Duhon to end it.

“Kudos to their pitcher,” Newman coach JD Waldschmidt said. “She didn’t throw hard – we were out in front of everything, hit lazy pop-ups to the infield – but she just made big pitches. She threw well and had a gutsy performance in the circle; when she needed to make a pitch, she made it every time.

“That last inning, she’s behind the first two batters and you’re thinking to yourself, ‘All right, we’ve got a fairly good shot here to roll that lineup over, and she came back to get outs and not open the door for us.”

Ely had two hits for the Comets, and Morthland drew both walks Gilroy surrendered. But unlike in last week’s regional games, Newman just couldn’t find that clutch hit to get on the board.

“We just didn’t come up with the big hit,” Waldschmidt said. “We had bases loaded once and two on in the first, and you’re a hit away from being up 1-0 or 2-0, and then in the sixth a hit away from tying it up or taking a lead. We seemed to get the extra hit that we needed last week in both games, and we just couldn’t get it today.”

Both teams will likely find themselves in this same position again over the next few years, as freshmen littered the starting lineups for both teams. And while Morthland was sad that her career as a Comet is over, she’s happy to pass the torch to the next group, just like she had it passed down to her.

“This team really came a long way,” she said. “If you watch us at the beginning of the season, there were games where we’d give up eight outs in an inning, and I think in the postseason, a lot of the freshmen stepped up and did their job, and the defense really came along in the postseason and did outstanding, all we could ask for.

“It was great to come back to Newman softball for my last year, and I really just wanted to play for the seniors that didn’t get to play last year,” she added. “We had a lot of goals we wanted to accomplish last year, and didn’t get the chance, and when we came back this year, it was like a brand new team, but it was definitely a great feeling to come this far into the postseason. A lot of people have doubted us from the beginning of the year, but it was a great feeling to come back for one more year and play when we didn’t even know if we were going to get to back in the winter.”

Waldschmidt praised his seniors for stepping up and being the leaders his young squad needed.

“Postseason for me and Newman softball is all about seniors,” he said. “Last year, I had to look about seven seniors in the eye and tell them we were done after a month of practice. That was a loaded team, a team coming off a loss in the super that would’ve made a nice run. This year, we played a little longer in the postseason than I anticipated, to be flat-out honest, with the way we had been playing at the end of the year; that win Saturday was something special, playing without any flaws on the road against a team with a gaudy record.

“Today I gave the seniors a big hug, told them thank you. Jordan was a four-year varsity player and Skylar a three year – if we don’t have COVID – and their leadership has been outstanding, They’re the first to get on the girls for maybe not stretching hard enough, they’re the first to help set up nets. So they’ve learned from the upperclassmen in years before, that leadership role has been passed down over the 10 years that I’ve been here, and what the expectations are.”

Ty Reynolds

Ty Reynolds

Ty is the Sports Editor at Sauk Valley Media, and has covered sports in the Sauk Valley for more than two decades.