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La Salle-Peru softball’s best season since 2013 ends with sectional final loss to Dunlap · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Lasal Perue softball's best season since twenty thirteen ends with
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  sectional final loss to Dunlap. Written by Kevin Schlum, this
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  article is being read by an automated voice brought to
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  you by Everlett. Lasal Peru softball coach Randy Huebey, assistants
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  Caitlin Gibson and Kara Urson, and the team's nine seniors
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  had a long talk in right field Friday. There were
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  lots of tears and even a few laughs. The Cavaliers
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  had just finished their most successful season in more than
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  a decade on their home field with a ten zero
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  loss to Dunlap in the Class three A lasal Peru
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  Sectional Championship. I just told them how much I loved them,
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  you by said, I said, I was tough on you,
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  but they're family to me now. So they were crying,
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  and so were my coaches. There were twelve of us
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  out there bawling our eyes out. I told them I
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  appreciate them not quitting on us as coaches. How I
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  was worried about after graduation having the seniors check out,
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  and they didn't. When graduation happened is when they turned
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  it on, and that was impressive to me. If we'd
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  have played today like we did the last four games,
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  this would have been a closer game, but it wasn't
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  our day. LP's class of twenty twenty six, which included
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  Anna Riva, Kelsey Frederick, Sophia Piska, Dagni, greer Lydia Steinbach,
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  bre Ruppert, Taylor Veskagni, Claire Boudreau, and Carmen Piano, helped
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  the Cavaliers win their first regional and reach the Sweet
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  sixteen for the first time since twenty thirteen after six
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  consecutive seasons losing in a regional final. Going into the season,
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  we had high expectations for ourselves because we did so
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  well with our record last year, even though the postseason
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  didn't end as well as we'd like, Claire Boudreau said,
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  So we really had that under our butts to try
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  to play as hard as we could. Our team morale
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  was really really high, and everybody was so supportive of
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  each other, and that is what pushed us. Most of
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  us were the same group of girls, but we just
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  had a different light inside of us. It's a different
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  fire that kept pushing us farther. I feel that's something
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  that you can't really teach a team. We were so
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  blessed and lucky to have such a great group of
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  girls that all wanted the same thing. So that's what
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  ultimately got us here, plus lots of hard work on
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  Friday felt a turning point came early. Mackenzie Chamberlain drew
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  a walk to start the bottom second inning, but her
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  courtesy runner was thrown out on a back pick by
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  Dunlap catcher Gabby Drake. The next LP batter struck out
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  before Vescogny hit a two out single to left. The
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  inning ended when the next batter grounded out. The Calves
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  only had two hits the rest of the way, a
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  slow roller single by Steinbach in the third inning and
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  a single to left by Greer in the seventh, and
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  only had two runners in scoring position after the first inning,
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  with one being throwout at third as part of a
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  five to three double play. In the site, the pickoff
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  at first base really ignited their dugout. He Obey said.
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  There was no sound over there, but they picked her
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  off and it just exploded over there and it never stopped.
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  They were excited at the plate they were hitting. The
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  Eagles then struck first in the top of the third
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  on three hits along with two bases loaded walks. Dunlap
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  scored two more in the fourth on one hit, two
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  walks in an error, and added two more unearned runs
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  in the sixth after a two out error, and then
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  scored four in the seventh. Vesconie allowed six runs, three earned,
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  on seven hits, with seven walks and three strikeouts in
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  six innings. Ruppert and Claire Boudreau pitched the seventh. It
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  might have been a tight zone a little bit, and
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  it kind of affected our pitchers, but we can't let
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  that stuff affect us, he will Be said. The Calves
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  couldn't get much going against University of Illinois recruit Sutton
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  sent Toni, who threw a four hit shutout, striking out
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  seven and walking five. It just wasn't our day from
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  the get go, hue Bay said. We just didn't have
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  that fire we've had the last three games. Once they
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  got up on us, it looked like some heads kind
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  of dropped. She's a good pitcher, but she's hittable. We
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  just weren't as aggressive as we normally are. They were
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  the better team today, Claire Boudreau said. While they hoped
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  to advance to the super Sectional, a home loss was
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  better than a road loss to end the season. Obviously,
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  it's not the outcome we wanted, but there's something special
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  about playing on your home field and seeing all the
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  fans here. Claire Boudreau said, I'm just really grateful for
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  my coaches and all the opportunities they gave us. We
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  got to go to Myrtle Beach for spring break, and
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  those were experiences I'll never forget. They truly have been
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  great coaches, and I'll forever cherish this time with all
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  these girls. I'm just so proud to say that I
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  played softball here and I made all these memories and
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  I got to be part of this team. The Calves
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  finished twenty three fifteen, so proud of them. Hubey said,
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  they got us a plaque. It set the tone for
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  next year's team. I can't ask for a better ending. Really,
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  we ended at home. I got to hug my girls
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  in the last day at home. The Eagles twenty nine
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  to eight, advanced to play Providence in East Peoria Supersectional
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  on Monday.