|
By FRANK CASH Herald-Whig Sports Writer PAYSON, Ill. -- It's not an exaggeration to say that the fivePayson Seymour senior softball players have played the sport nearlytheir entire lives. Cheyanne Bowman and Sarah White remember taking up softball whenthey were kindergarteners and playing with some girls a couple ofyears older. It was only a year later when Megan Boone, LaceyHagerbaumer and Kelsie Huber joined them on the diamond. "We've always been playing together," White said. "It's always beensomething we've done together." Along the way, they witnessed some near misses in the postseasonfor Payson. Starting in 2000, the Lady Indians won seven regionalchampionships but until this year, had never advanced past thesectional championship game. That's changed this season. Not only did Payson win its firstsectional but it also won Monday's super-sectional game over HardinCalhoun 3-2 to advance to the state tournament for the first timeever. The Lady Indians (31-6) will play Tuscola (26-6) in the first oftwo state semifinals at 9:30 a.m. Friday at Eastside Centre in EastPeoria. "It's fun to think about and get ready for," Boone said. "It'd begreat anyway but since we've always lived here and been a part ofthe community it's even better." It's almost like a dream come true. It's definitely been a goalsince last season ended with a 1-0 loss to Griggsville-Perry in thesectional title game. "I think that's something that stuck with us for a long time,"Huber said. "Just the way it ended and how close we were to winninga sectional title. It really helped motivate us." That's something Karl Asbury noticed when he was hired as the headcoach after Mary Wiedman returned home to Alton Marquette to teachand coach. "We talked a little bit about it in the preseason and early in theseason," said Asbury, who had been an assistant baseball coach theprevious three years. "I wanted them to reach their goals and itwas pretty clear that they wanted to get as far as they have. It'sbeen pretty easy to motivate this group." The seniors realize it would've been very difficult to have muchsuccess without the contributions of the underclassmen. JuniorKristen Loos has team highs of 13 doubles and six home runs, two ofthose in a 4-0 victory over Abingdon in the sectional championshipgame. The rest of the full-time starters are freshmen andsophomores. "They've done a great job," Hagerbaumer said. "We tell them we wantthem to do and they do a good job of listening. They're out to besuccessful just like we are. They're going to do everything theycan for that to happen." That's a mark of a good team chemistry. The Lady Indians turned tothat when they hit a bit of a lull at midseason. The team was left answering some questions after a 3-2, 15-inningloss to Hardin Calhoun on April 20. "We knew we needed to start focusing better," Bowman said. "Weweren't hitting the ball that well or getting the big hit when weneeded it most. I think everyone started playing together better." Since then, Payson has won 15 of its past 16 games, includingMonday's win in front of one of the biggest crowds ever for a LadyIndians game. Now, they want to return home with the biggest prize — thestate championship trophy. None of the state tournament teams havebeen this far before. "We've got to go out and continue to play like we've been playing,"Huber said. "We can't get too down if things don't go our way andwe have to believe in ourselves. We've got to go out and bementally tough." If that happens, the Lady Indians could write another chapter totheir record-breaking season. — sports@whig.com/221-3365. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China LED Supplier , LED Factory for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Indoor Led Screen.
Related Articles -
China LED Supplier, LED Factory,
| 
