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Crown goes to Lady Redbirds
Virginia/A-C Central conference champs for 1st time
VIRGINIA — The softball game between the Virginia/A-C Central Lady Redbirds and the Triopia-Meredosia Lady Trojans was rained out Thursday, but that did little to dampen the Lady Redbirds’ spirits.
It’s been a banner year so far for Virginia, with the softball team already breaking the school record for wins in a season. On Wednesday, the Lady Redbirds beat the Brown County Lady Hornets, 16-1, to claim the Western Illinois Valley Conference crown for the first time in school history.
“It feels real good,” junior pitcher/outfielder Kayla Birdsell said. “We haven’t done it before, and to get this far, it means a lot to us. It means a lot to give it to our coach.”
For some members of the team, it’s been an unlikely run.
“We didn’t really think we were going to have this many wins,” said sophomore third baseman Haley Horney, who is currently hitting .415. “It’s really exciting. We’re kind of shocked a little bit.”
Virginia (24-4, 14-1) has taken advantage of timely hitting and stellar pitching this season. Junior Brittany Parks boasts one of the area’s top batting average (.548), and leads the pack in doubles (14), triples (7) and RBIs (29). Horney and fellow sophomore Kate Williams are both hitting over .400, and junior Taylor Jacobs is tied for the area lead with three home runs. Sophomore Megan Bergerud has scored more runs (36) than any other area player.
Even more impressive may be the pitching of freshman Taylor Jokisch, who is 14-0 with a minuscule 1.18 ERA. Birdsell, who is 7-3 with a 1.98 ERA, and Sammy Jo Petefish, who is 3-1 with a 3.45 ERA, have helped the team on the mound as well.
“I believe our team has come a long ways, and we’ve actually been playing really well lately,” Birdsell said. “I figured we’d make it pretty far, and I think we still have a long way to go.”
Virginia will conclude its regular-season schedule with a make-up game against Triopia at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon in Virginia, where the Lady Redbirds haven’t lost this season.
And although today’s home game is the last of the regular season, the Lady Redbirds are hoping to make it back to their home field after regionals. Virginia, which will play its regional games at Edinburg, hosts a sectional.
The Lady Redbirds are trying not to look too far ahead, though.
“We just want to take it one step at a time, you know, make it as far as we can and focus on what we need to focus on,” Birdsell said. “I think that will carry us where we need to go.”
Added Horney, “We really have to focus on everything, just go one game at a time. We can’t look too far ahead.”
Gebhardt is ready for the postseason to get under way. And with only three seniors on the team this year — Natalie Allen, Amber Lucas and Alicia Nicholas — the coach says the future looks bright for the Virginia softball team.
“The girls are great girls. They never get frustrated, they always are pretty focused when we get to the games and they’ve been taking care of business like they should,” Gebhardt said. “Our defense has been great and our pitching has been tremendous and our bats have been what I thought they would be.
“The girls are excited and they’re ready for the postseason.”
