Eastside plays small ball and hangs on late to earn IHSAA Class 2A softball championship
WEST LAFAYETTE – Eastside junior Natalie Lower stood inside the pitcher’s circle in the seventh inning Saturday with three outs to record for a Class 2A state championship.
Lower’s teammates had given her a two-run lead to protect against a North Posey lineup that hadn’t broken through all game, despite riding a 23-game winning streak.
Simply, it was the moment of truth for her team’s motto of “Earn It.”
“It was really hard to keep my composure,” the right-hander admitted. “It was very rattling, but I had to look it like it was the first inning and just get three outs.”
Class 3A: Tri-West vs. St. Joseph was arguably greatest pitchers' duel in state finals history
Not surprisingly, the Vikings put up a fight, scoring a run and getting the tying run at second base with one out. But Lower stood strong, recording a strikeout (her fifth) and coaxing a ground ball back to her for the final out, giving the Blazers a 2-1 victory at Purdue University’s Bittinger Stadium.
The triumph gives Eastside (29-1) its second state title (1998) in the first season under coach Brennen Kitchen.
“Really, I didn’t think about this until last week,” Kitchen said. “We didn’t want these girls looking ahead, just to concentrate on what’s in front of them.”
That tack stems from a disappointing season in 2021, where the Blazers didn’t get out of their sectional.
“We pretty much had the same team last year as this year,” Lower said, “but with a different coach. (Kitchen) just wanted us to earn everything we did, every day.”
To “earn” this victory, Kitchen had a simple, but problematic plan against vaunted North Posey pitcher Erin Hoehn. The Vikings junior right-hander (14-2) came in with an 0.99 ERA and 213 strikeouts in only 101.1 innings.
“(Hoehn) throws with such velocity that we preached all week, just put the ball in play and something good will happen,” Kitchen said.
That’s what No. 9 hitter Lilli Cline did leading off the third inning, rapping a sinking line drive to right field that a diving Maddy Olander couldn’t get to, allowing Cline to reach with a triple. Sophomore Jayci Kitchen followed with a squeeze bunt to score Cline for a 1-0 lead.
Mataya Bireley led off the fourth inning with a hit-by-pitch and eventually scored on another squeeze bunt, this one by Grace Kreischer.
That score held until the seventh, when North Posey’s Lauren Kihn led off with a single and promptly stole second and third. She scored on a bunt single by Haley Lowe, who was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Olander, the next batter.
However, Lower settled herself, struck out Jenna Wehmer then got Ashton Elpers to ground it back to her for the final out, as she recorded her 18th win in 19 decisions.
“Give credit to Eastside,” North Posey coach Gary Gentil said. “They played their game and played it well. We thought we would put more pressure on them on the bases, but we didn’t and that’s a credit to them.”
Lowe had two hits for North Posey, which finished 24-2.
CLASS 2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
(At Bittinger Stadium, West Lafayette)
EASTSIDE 2, NORTH POSEY 1
North Posey 000 000 1 – 1 6 0
Eastside 001 100 x – 2 4 0
Erin Hoehn (L, 14-2) and Sibyl Renshaw; Natalie Lower (W, 18-1) and Timmery Hunter.
2B: (NP) Hoehn; (E) Jayci Kitchen.
3B: (E) Lilli Cline.
Records: North Posey 24-2; Eastside 29-1.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA softball finals: Eastside beats North Posey for 2A championship
