Highland High School softball team overcomes rough start for strong playoff run

When the 2022 prep softball season began, Highland High School softball coach Glen Nicholls saw little on the roster — initially — that told him this edition would be much more than a middle-of-the-road club.

With standout pitcher Sam Miener off to Austin Peay State University and shortstop Sydney Parkerson taking her talents to Truman State after graduation last year and two sophomore pitchers back for this season, Nicholls had early doubts about this team’s mettle.

“At the beginning of the season we’re coming in without our top pitcher in Sam Miener and our shortstop (Parkerson) and we have two young pitchers, so I was thinking we might be like maybe a little over .500 at best,” Nicholls said.

The season started off rocky enough for the Lady Bulldogs as they stumbled out of the gate going 3-5 the first two weeks. Highland had early growing pains to work through with sophomore pitchers Sophia Donoho and Sophie Parkerson.

“You can definitely say that ... as you start 3-0 and you feel pretty good about yourself and then we drop the next six (games) and we were not looking too good after six in a row,” Nicholls said.

Highland regrouped in late-April thanks to a five-game winning streak that evened its record at 8-8 on April 27. That surge then kicked off a torrid 10-game winning streak which got HHS rolling.

“Right around April 27, we fought our way back to 8-8 with a win over Mascoutah and then we ran off another 10 in a row and the next thing you know we’re 15-8. And we’re feeling a lot better (about ourselves) and things kind of came together and we were playing a lot better,” Nicholls said.

Nicholls credits the development and adjustments made by Donoho and Sophie Parkerson.

“The young pitchers that were grinding out there were starting to feel a lot more comfortable at the varsity level and they knew they belonged at that point,” Nicholls said.

Donoho became the Lady Bulldogs ace, going 17-8 with a 3.25 ERA as she struck out 182 hitters and walked just 53. Parkerson, as the Lady Bulldogs No. 2 starter, went 4-0 with a 2.07 ERA with 28 strikeouts and 10 walks.

“Sophia Donoho went 17-8, which is a pretty impressive record for a young pitcher. And Sophie Parkerson came into the season really not pitching for her club team anymore, but she said ‘if you need me to pitch I’ll be ready to go,’” Nicholls said. “She did a really nice job going 4-0 and had a 2.07 ERA. She only threw 27 innings, but she still had 28 strikeouts and she threw a no-hitter against Alton.”

Big contributions from several sources

Nicholls praised the efforts of seniors Emma Strubinger, Breanna Habermehl and Allie Koerkemeier as the three seniors were the driving force offensively behind the HHS mid-season turnaround. Strubinger, the senior outfielder, hit .388 with 24 RBI. Habermehl, in left field, hit .383 with 19 RBI and Koerkemeier at second base hit .330 with 20 RBI.

“Our three seniors — Emma Strubinger, Bre Habermehl, and Allie Koerkenmeier — those three girls really brought their game up to another level. Those girls basically played every inning of every game and it was really nice to see those girls get rewarded and take their game to another level,” Nicholls said.

Other top contributors to the lineup included juniors Maggie Grohmann (.491), Madalyn Trauernicht (.366), and Maci MIles (.381)

Highland finished the regular season with three straight wins and clinched its second-straight Mississippi Valley Conference crown with a 6-3 road victory against Triad on May 17.

HHS kept the good times rolling in the postseason with IHSA Class 3A regional victories over Centralia (3-0) on May 19 and Waterloo (4-0) on May 24 at Highland to advance into sectionals.

Bulldogs claim sectional, fall in super-sectional

The Lady Bulldogs handled Mount Vernon 7-1 in the Centralia Sectional semifinals June 1 and then slipped past Marion 4-3 in a nine-inning thriller June 3 to claim the sectional championship.

“The Marion game was one of the games I’ll always remember because it was such an exciting game from start to finish,” Nicholls said. “We got one (run) in the ninth and it ended up being 4-3, but it was a really, really nice win to win the sectional.”

Next came the super-sectional against Mahomet Seymour and ace pitcher Karley Yergler. In the end, Yergler and Mohamet-Seymour were too much as HHS fell 4-1 at Millikin University in Decatur on June 6.

“Their pitcher was really dealing that day and she was the difference-maker in the game,” Nicholls said. “She held us down to one run and she had a two-run homer and she was a big stick and we knew that going in.”

Season a big success

While the Lady Bulldogs were disappointed finishing one win short of returning to state, Nicholls said he felt this team achieved quite a bit given where they started the season.

Highland finished its deep playoff run with a sturdy 22-10 mark.

“What the girls did with a winning conference and to go 22-10 ... I think that was really a testament to how these girls really enjoyed playing together and really enjoyed each other’s company,” Nicholls said. “When we got to the postseason it was nice to see these girls wanted to win since they got a taste of it last year.”

This story was originally published June 20, 2022 at 6:18 PM.