WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana — Hanover Central senior catcher Sienna Stilley was feeling the effects after a foul ball hit her face mask with two outs in the seventh inning of the Class 3A state championship game on Friday.
Any pain was secondary for Stilley, however.
“It really hurt,” she said. “I immediately got really dizzy, lights out, honestly. I have a headache on the left side of my face.
“But that’s OK because we’re state champions now. Nothing really matters anymore.”
Indeed, Stilley and the Wildcats would not be denied in their second straight trip to the state final. She delivered the go-ahead two-run double in the second inning as Hanover Central topped New Palestine 6-4.
Stilley, a Jacksonville State recruit who also singled and drew a walk, starred last season as part of the team that narrowly lost in the state final to Indianapolis Cathedral.
“To see the blue is just so much more satisfying,” she said. “We worked incredibly hard. I don’t think people understand.
“It’s so special, just to do it for our girls, the rest of the team. I’m so proud of the foundation that the seniors and our group built.”
Hanover Central coach Sam Antkiewicz, who also won an Illinois state championship as a baseball player with Thornwood in 1991, extolled the virtues of Stilley in particular.
“Just a consummate leader,” Antkiewicz said. “Just a leader on the field, off the field. Great softball player, great athlete.
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“We’re going to miss her dearly. She helped put Hanover Central on the map.”
Sophomore pitcher Jillian DeYoung, who allowed just two earned runs and struck out 11 in seven innings, praised Stilley too.
“Me and Sienna, we have such a good pitcher-catcher relationship,” DeYoung said. “She is such a good person. She always knows how to calm everybody down. She always knows the right words to use at the right time.
“Sienna is pretty much the person that calms us down.”
DeYoung and her teammates needed that early in the game. The Northwest Crossroads Conference champion Wildcats (26-6), ranked No. 10 in the state coaches poll, fell behind 2-0 on two unearned runs in the first inning. But they overcame that deficit against No. 7 New Palestine (24-8).
“It wasn’t over,” DeYoung said. “We still had six innings. We’re going to bust our butt 100%, 100% effort into everything we do for those six innings. I can’t even remember the last game that we’ve ever given up.”
Antkiewicz noted that mentality as well.
“These girls have been resilient all year long,” he said. “They’re ready for the big games. They weren’t backing down to anybody. So even though they got down, they stayed together, and they knew that if that happened, that good things could happen.
“Then they just kept working and plugging away, and then they were able to get the lead and hang on to it at the end there.”
By doing so, Hanover Central added to its 2004 Class 2A state title.
“This is just a phenomenal feeling,” Antkiewicz said. “I’m most happy for the girls. They put in the effort, they put in the hard work and it’s just well-deserved for them. I’m just ecstatic, ecstatic. I’m just overwhelmed and just so happy for them and for the Hanover community.”
The Wildcats’ loss in the state final last year was motivation for them, according to Antkiewicz.
“It fueled them big-time,” he said. “We knew we had the potential, but the potential doesn’t get you anywhere. They had to stay focused, they had to continue to work hard, and we had to continue to challenge them.
“It’s a very tough schedule, we’re in a tough conference, and it paid off in the end. We play a lot of tough teams, and we were able to battle through adversity, getting down 2-0 early in the game. The girls stayed together, they kept playing, and they were able to come out on top. I’m very happy for them. It was a great game.”
DeYoung, a two-way star, and senior first baseman Brooklyn Oostman each had two hits and two RBIs.
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“I don’t think words can describe how proud I am of her,” Stilley said of DeYoung. “She’s such a hard worker, and just to be, like, what, 16 years old, and just to work that hard is just — any coach can see this. She’s uncommitted, so everybody hit her up.
“She’s the hardest worker. She’s the best pitcher I’ve seen. She’s so committed, and she’s driven to be the best. So I’m so proud of her.”
Stilley, DeYoung and the rest of the Wildcats proved to be the best in 3A.
“We practiced day in and day out, this whole week, so just to do it and get it done and execute how we can, it was so amazing,” Stilley said.