MONTICELLO – The Edwardsville High School softball team couldn’t fight back after an early 3-0 deficit, eventually falling to the Bradley-Bourbonnais Boilers 6-1 in the IHSA Class 4A Normal (Community West) Sectional championship.
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The game was moved up a day and to a new location, being played at Monticello High School on Friday, June 6. It was originally scheduled for Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan University.
None of that bothered the Boilers, who got off to a hot start against Edwardsville starter Riley Nelson. Bradley-Bourbonnais hit back-to-back singles and walked to load the bases with no outs.
The first run was scored when Bella Pusateri came around on a wild pitch to make it 1-0. Nelson then got a double play ball but gave up an RBI single to make it 2-0.
The Boilers’ starter, Lydia Hammond, went three-up, three-down in the bottom half.
“They were more ready to go at the start of the game,” Edwardsville head coach Caty Happe said of the Boilers. “Tough to come back after that. We got a little momentum, some runners on, but striking out that many times, it’s going to be really hard to come back.”
Nelson continued to struggle in the second, giving up back-to-back walks. A sacrifice bunt moved those runners to second and third, allowing a sacrifice RBI from Bristol Schriefer to make it 3-0.
Hammond struck out the side in the bottom half.
Edwardsville’s lone run came in the bottom of the third. Lily Stone drew a one-out walk, and then Remi Werden reached on an error. That brought up Brooke Burris, who doubled on a fly ball to right, scoring Stone to make it 3-1.
The Tigers would strand those runners after back-to-back popouts.
The Boilers tacked on more in the fifth when Suttyn Hop hit a two-run home run. The final run came in the seventh when Schriefer hit a sac fly to score Shannon Lee to get to the final of 6-1.
It’s the Boilers’ second sectional title in three years. The Tigers were looking to get their first since 2022 when the team finished a 32-4 season third at state in Lori Blade’s final year.
“They never quit,” Happe said of her girls. “Energy got down a little bit, but they always fought like they continue to do, so I couldn’t be more proud of them for that.”
Both pitchers went the distance. Nelson gave up six runs, five earned, on six hits. She walked three and struck out five, finishing the game at 118 pitches.
Her opponent, Hammond, only allowed one hit while striking out 12.
Bradley-Bourbonnais (22-12) moves on to the Bloomington (Illinois Wesleyan University) Super-Sectional on Monday, June 9 at 6:30 p.m. The Boilers will take on Lockport (30-9).
The Tigers end the season as Southwestern Conference champions, regional champions, and finish with a record of 26-9.
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