By RICHIE HALL
When asked about his two amazing pitchers, Guerin Catholic softball coach Jeff Buckner said that their success “is not by accident.”
What Buckner said about them could also be said about the entire Golden Eagles team. With Izzy Kemp and Alicia Flores leading the way in the circle, and everyone else doing their job on offense and defense, the Golden Eagles are in the state finals for the first time in school history, winning first-ever sectional, regional and semi-state championships along the way.
“They are extremely excited to be setting the bar for the softball program,” said Buckner. “They also set this bar for themselves at the beginning of last season, they love playing and competing. They also understand the impact they are making for our school and the sport of softball in our area.”
Guerin Catholic will play in the Class 3A state title game at 8 p.m. Friday at Center Grove. The No. 2-ranked Golden Eagles will take on No. 10-ranked Boonville in the championship game. The Pioneers have a rich softball tradition, going all the way back to the IHSAA’s first postseason tournament in 1985.
Boonville is led by Kalyn Chapman, a former Pioneers player who was on the school’s 3A state finalist team in 2010. As a first-year coach, Chapman led Boonville to a 20-6 record. The Pioneers started the season 1-2, then won nine straight games, the majority of them by 10 runs.
After dropping three of its last four games to finish the regular season, Boonville blasted its way through the tournament. The Pioneers won their own sectional by beating Mount Vernon Posey 11-1 and Evansville Memorial 8-0. With that, Boonville won its 22nd sectional championship, tying it for second on the all-time list with Indianapolis Lutheran. Center Grove is the all-time leader, having won its 24th sectional trophy two weeks ago.
The Pioneers traveled to Pike Central for the regional championship, winning that 10-3, their 15th regional title. Boonville is tied with Lake Central for second place on the regional list as well, with Center Grove again the leader with 17 regionals.
The victory sent the Pioneers to the Brown County semi-state, where it needed nine innings to get past Northview 2-1 in the semi-finals. Boonville then stunned No. 3-ranked Danville 6-1 in the final for its fifth semi-state crown. The Pioneers will be making their fourth appearance in a state championship game; they won a 3A state title in 2006 and were runners-up in 2007 and 2010.
“Boonville is a very solid team all-around with a talented pitcher and strong offense,” said Buckner. “They are also a program that has a pretty strong softball tradition. We have played a pretty strong schedule to help prepare us to play a team like Boonville, but this will be our toughest test yet.”
Senior Kaitlyn Knox is the Pioneers’ top hitter, with a .457 average. Knox has 32 hits on the year, having scored 28 runs and batted in nine.
Another senior, Jayce Purdy, leads Boonville in nearly all the key statistics. Purdy has the team’s most RBIs (34), hits (33), runs scored (33), doubles (8) and home runs (6). She is batting .393 going into the state finals.
Freshman Asthon Pryor holds a .408 average, while sophomore Chloe Apple leads in triples with three. Senior Ariel Thomasson is the Pioneers’ starting pitcher; she is 19-6 for the season with 179 strikeouts and 1.60 earned-run average.
DOUBLE DOMINANCE
Pitching, of course, has been the hallmark for the Golden Eagles this season. Kemp and Flores have been an incredible 1-2 punch for Guerin, and both have multiple no-hitters and perfect games to prove it.
“Their success is not by accident, both Izzy and Alicia have an excellent work ethic and take pride in their preparation,” said Buckner. “They also support and work with each other and want the other to be successful. They have rotated starts all year in the circle and at first base and have provided consistency for their teammates. They are both leaders at practice and Alicia being one of the senior captains has helped her teammates stay mentally tough throughout the season.”
Both pitchers are averaging well under one earned run per game. Kemp’s ERA is 0.399, while Flores’ is 0.672. Kemp has struck out 212 batters, Flores has 202 strikeouts. Kemp has thrown six no-hitters and four perfect games, with Flores pitching three no-hitters and two perfect games.
As for the offense? The Golden Eagles are strong there as well. Guerin Catholic’s top hitter is senior Ana Macha, who is batting a sensational .635, easily one of the best hitters in the state.
In 96 at-bats, Macha has collected 61 hits, including a team-leading five triples. She also leads in runs scored with 47. Buckner calls Macha “one of the top table-setters in the state, she is about as consistent as they come and her speed on the bases has put us in good positions early in most games.”
Senior Aliyah Dorsey is next in line with a .440 average; she is tied for first in RBIs with 37 and has the most doubles with 17. Buckner said Dorsey “has also been a consistent presence at the top of our line-up.”
Kemp is batting .417 and also has 37 RBIs. In addition, she leads GC in home runs with eight. Alicia Flores hits at a .367 clip, while Victoria Flores is batting .330.
“Victoria Flores, Izzy, and Alicia have been able to find ways between them to make sure Ana and Aliyah don’t get left on base,” said Buckner. “Lucy Schenk and Sarah Dilley have been coming on strong offensively in the second half of the season and in the post-season.”
Buckner also said that junior Kirsten Mascari and sophomore Julia Hartley “have started to flip the line-up over and make the offense more dangerous. Just as with the pitching it is the team support that has made our offense what it is.”
Buckner said his team talks to each other “all the time and pay attention to what they are doing during practice,” and that the players can consistently be heard cheering for each other during batting practice.
Guerin Catholic is 25-2 for the season. The Golden Eagles’ only two losses have been to Roncalli, which is playing in the Class 4A state championship on Saturday.
So far in the postseason, Guerin has only given up one run. The Golden Eagles began their run at the Hamilton Heights sectional, where they beat New Castle 5-0 in the semi-finals, then outlasted No. 1-ranked Yorktown 1-0 in 10 innings. Dorsey batted in the winning run in the 10th inning.
Since then, Guerin Catholic has been running unopposed, beating Norwell 12-1 for the regional title, then taking care of No. 7-ranked Bishop Dwenger 12-0 and Kankakee Valley 7-0 for the Twin Lakes semi-state championship.