Goreville bats explode in regional softball win
GOREVILLE - Winning regional softball championships is nothing new to Goreville High School Athletics. The Blackcats made it nine straight and 15 in the last 16 seasons Saturday with an 11-3 win over Century at the Class 1A Goreville Regional.
Goreville (18-11) now advances to the Class 1A Elverado Sectional, where it will meet Crab Orchard Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in Vergennes. Crab Orchard posted a 6-1 win over Steeleville Saturday to advance to the sectional.
"I thought everybody got a hit when we needed to today," said Blackcats head coach Shanna Green. "This team can hit up and down the lineup (15 team hits Saturday), but we're young and inexperienced in some ways. As long as we keep our composure, we're usually OK."
Green complimented her freshman pitcher Kynlee Bryan, who worked around some trouble early in the game and went the distance to pick up the win. Bryan allowed three runs on eight hits in her seven innings of work with two strikeouts and no walks.
"I thought Kynlee did very well, especially for a freshman, in a big game like this," Green said. "There were a few spots she missed, but that comes with experience. We don't have anyone who can throw 70 mph, so we have to pitch to contact and let our defense go to work. And we have a good defense."
Goreville senior Elisabeth Trainor was one of several Blackcats who enjoyed solid performances on the day. Trainor doubled, singled, stole a base, scored two runs and played good defense at second base.
"As freshmen, our senior class won the regional, and every year since then, we've been trying to do the same," Trainor said. "We're a pretty calm group, sometimes too much so, but we do what we need to do to win, both defensively and at the plate."
Trainor said she and her teammates are familiar with their next opponent, Crab Orchard, having played them last season.
"They (Trojans) are a pretty good team. I've played with their pitcher (Adri Ortega) and she's very good, but I think that if our heads are right, we play good defense, and swing the bat well on offense, I think we can pull out a win."
The Centurions, who finish the season 15-9, took a 1-0 lead in the first when Jaylee Vanmeter doubled and scored on Kinsleigh Green's RBI single to right.
The girls from Johnson County tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third. Trainor sparked the offense with a leadoff double. She stole third and scored on a sac fly to center off the bat of Bryan.
Century retook the lead at 2-1 in the fourth when Kali Crain singled, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout by Hayden Anderson, and scored on an RBI single to right from Emersyn George.
The lead did not stand for long as the Blackcats answered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Maggie Clutts recorded a one-out double to left. With two outs, Hannah Trainor singled her home.
Emma Rogers and Elisabeth Trainor followed with infield singles to load the bases. Bryan's infield single drove in the second run of the inning and Lydia Kwiatkowski's double drove in the other two to make it a 5-2 lead.
Goreville added two runs in the fifth to make it 7-2 with the aid of two Century errors and an RBI single from Rogers.
The Blackcats then put the game out of reach with a four spot in the sixth to up the lead to 11-2. Addy Underwood, Clutts and Rogers all produced RBI hits. The Centurions tallied one final run in the seventh when Vanmeter blasted a solo homer to left.
Centurions head coach Hunter Kreuter praised Goreville for putting the bat on the ball and scoring so many runs.
"Goreville doesn't quit. They keep swinging," he said. "That's what I expect out of my girls, as well. Overall, we've done fairly well for the season. We're a small 1A school that beat several 2A schools this year.
"I'm proud of our young ladies for doing that," Kreuter said of the team's 15 wins. "They battle every day with smaller numbers. We were looking for our fourth-straight regional championship, but just didn't have it at the end of the day."
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