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Seneca powers past St. Bede 10-0 to punch ticket into IHSA 2A Pontiac Sectional title game · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Seneca powers past Saint Beide ten zero to punch ticket
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  into as two A Pontiac's Sectional title game. Written by J. T. Penalty,
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  this article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  to you by Everlett. The twenty twenty six Seneca Fighting
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  Irish softball team believes it's not only a better team
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  than last year's thirty four to two ball club, but
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  better equipped to get past a defending class to a
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  state champion Beacher team that beat last Springs Irish one
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  zero in a sectional championship heartbreaker. Thanks to a ten zero,
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  five inning dismissal of fellow Tri County Conference member and
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  regional champion Saint Bede in the Tuesday semifinal of the
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  Class two A Pontiac Sectional, this year's Fighting Irish may
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  get the opportunity to prove it. I really think we
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  have a great chance this year, said Seneca shortstop and
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  number two hitter emm Amino, who led the Irish offense
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  against Saint Bede with three RBIs, including a two run
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  double in the second inning that opened the floodgates. I
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  think we've really stepped it up from last year. On Friday,
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  Seneca thirty six to two will play the winner of
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  Wednesday's semi final between Beacher and the sectional host Indians.
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  As successful as the Irish program has been in recent memory,
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  capturing eight regional titles since twenty eleven and winning nineteen
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  or more games each of the past sixteen seasons thirty
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  or more six times during that stretch, Seneca has never
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  brought home a softball sectional title. This whole team's been
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  working for this all season, said Hayden Pfeiffer, who took
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  a perfect game into the fourth inning Tuesday and finished
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  with five innings pitched, no runs or walks allowed, one
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  infield hit surrendered, and a dozen strikeouts. We've all been
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  working hard to make it as far as we can.
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  Saint Bede thirty five, a come from behind winter Saturday
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  to claim its fifth consecutive regional title, had no reply
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  to Tuesday to Seneca's overwhelming pitching and hitting. Three of
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  the bruins five losses this season have come at the
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  hands of the fighting Irish. They're not ranked number two
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  in the IIKE state rankings for no reason. Saint Bede
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  coach Rob Ruppert said, we knew it was going to
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  be a tough uphill battle, and they were the better
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  team today. What I just told the girls was, don't
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  let this game define us as a team this year.
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  We're thirty five. There are a lot of teams in
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  the state that would like to be thirty five. We
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  just ran into a good team today. After a scoreless
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  opening inning that saw Saint Bede starting pitcher Macy Strauch
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  work around a leadoff single by Grayson Provence and Feifer
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  set down the Bruins one, two, three, Seneca's bottom of
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  the order started a two out rally. Nober seven hitter
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  Amalia Weber singled. No. Eight hitter Marley Leezy drew a walk,
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  and freshman number nine hitter Aurora Weber opened the scoring
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  by driving in her older sister with a base hit
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  up the middle. It sparked an eventual six run inning,
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  Mino's aforementioned two run double and run scoring hits from
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  Feiffer and Cameron Stecan. The highlights after the bottom third
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  of the order set things in motion are seven, eight, nine. There.
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  I'm so proud of them, Seneca coach Brian Holman said,
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  you saw they did that to get us going in
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  the second inning. But a lot of people are going
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  to forget. They did it again in the third, with
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  Amalia Weber following up a Tessa Cruel double with one
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  of her own, Liezy bunting the elder Weber over and
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  Aurora Weber squeeze bunting her sister home to start off
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  a four run inning. I think they've taken a lot
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  of pride in it, and I'm so proud of them.
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  That's one of our things this year. I think we
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  are a little deeper. I think that makes us a
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  little better, and hopefully Friday we can use that depth.
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  The six run second and four run third, we're all
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  Seneca managed against Saint Bete starter strou two ip ad
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  R nine H one BB one K and reliever Hannah
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  Hybridger three IP two R zero R two H three
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  BB four K. It was all the Irish needed, thanks
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  to airless defense and the dominant pitching of Pfeiffer, who
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  struck out eight of the first ten batters she faced
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  before Emma Slingsby's one out slap single in the fourth.
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  Piffer then stranded Slingsby at first, striking out four of
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  the remaining five would be hitters to enforce the ten
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  run rule. I felt nice and loose, warming up. Pfiffer said,
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  a little hot today, but I felt really nice, loose.
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  Everything was spinning. First pitch Friday and Pontiac is scheduled
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  for four thirty pm.