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Gardner-South Wilmington beats Serena 4-1 in Class 1A Indian Creek Sectional · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Gardner South Wilmington beat Serena four to one in Class
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  one an Indian Creek Sectional. Written by Bill Frescos, this
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  article is being read by an automated voice brought to
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  you by Everlett. Behind elite defense and another dominant outing
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  from Ace Matti Sims, Gardner South Wilmington punched its ticket
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  to the super Sectional while ending Serena Cinderella postseason run
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  with a four to one victory on Friday night. According
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  to GSW twenty six to eleven coach David Simms, the
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  Panther's stellar defensive effort on Friday night was the culmination
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  of work they put in earlier this year, and it's
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  paid off in a big way this postseason so far.
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  We couldn't get outside much early this spring, so we
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  spent a ton of time in the gym working on
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  defense over and over again, David Sims said. Once we
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  got outside, it was flyballs, ground balls, everything. The girls
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  bought into improve defensively and recognized how important it can
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  be in those close games. Every single one of those
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  girls wants the ball to be hit to them. I
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  believe that mentality showed itself tonight. Although they had no
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  errors the box scorer did not tell the true story
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  of how well the Panthers played defensively, especially the outfield performance.
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  Serena Fourtina Levin had multiple hard hit ball sprayed all
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  over the outfield, and each one was tracked down and
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  brought in by the outfield trio of Nina Ciano, lives Siano,
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  and Bella Dinelli. Starting pitcher Matti Sims shined in the circle,
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  pitching a complete game and allowing one run on six
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  hits with eight strikeouts. Coming off a dominant performance against
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  Saint Edward on Wednesday, The senior ace was in command
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  of the strike zone all night and had a ton
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  of swing and miss with her fastball up in the zone.
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  The high fastball was definitely part of the game plan
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  coming in. I'm always going to try and throw it
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  if I can, Mattie Sims said. As the game went
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  on and our defense kept making plays, I settled in,
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  echoing her coaches sentiment, Mattie Simms believes that the defense
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  is a strong part of the Panthers' identity and a
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  big reason why they've advanced this far. We've worked a
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  lot on defense throughout this season, especially with how much
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  time we spent in the gym earlier this spring, she
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  said they were ready for anything tonight. I think once
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  I saw how well the defense was playing behind me,
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  it helped me relax and just attack the zone. Brin
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  Christensen paced the Panthers offensively, finishing two for four with
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  two RBIs, while Kayla Schuber collected three hits. Sims also
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  helped herself at the plate with two hits. Despite the loss,
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  Serena head coach Katie Huss was happy with the way
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  her team played this season, especially when it mattered most.
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  We knew coming into this game it was going to
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  be tough. They're a really good team, Hus said, but
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  I'm proud of this group. A lot of people didn't
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  think we'd be here. We were kind of the underdogs
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  all season, especially with girls stepping into new roles, but
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  they just kept fighting. In her first year as head coach,
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  Huss certainly got the Panthers to play hard for her,
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  and she's looking forward to the future of the program.
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  I just came into the season wanting to continue what
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  coach Baker built here, Huss said. These girls bought into it,
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  and having coached many of them in multiple sports helped
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  build that trust. Marina received seven innings from ace pitcher
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  Cassie Walsh, who struck out seven and walked none while
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  allowing four runs, three earned on nine hits. The Huskers
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  finished with six hits on the night, with Maddy Young
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  driving in their lone run while going one for three
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  at the plate. Cassie Walsh, Finley Broadbeck, Jordan Warren, Brittley,
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  Glade Young, and Parker Twayitt also each recorded a hit
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  for Serena. Looking Ahead, The Panthers will now head to
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  Bloomington on Monday to play Meridian in the Class one
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  at Illinois Wesleyan's Super Sections. Pitch is scheduled for four pm.