PEORIA — No runs, no hits, no errors and no one left on base.
The end-of-inning recaps were getting monotonous for those keeping score Saturday morning, but Antioch sophomore pitcher Jacey Schuler was oblivious.
“I don’t think about hits, really,” she said. “I think about outs. I’m trying to go out there and get every single out I can, trying not to let runners get on base.
“Winning games is what counts.”
Schuler made everything count in the Class 3A third-place game at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex. She retired every batter she faced except one, throwing a one-hitter in the Sequoits’ 1-0 win against Mahomet-Seymour.
“She’s gotten mentally tough,” Antioch coach Anthony Rocco said. “She doesn’t let anything get to her. She controls the game, and she has elite stuff.”
The hard-throwing right-hander insisted she was unaware she had a perfect game through 5 ? innings before giving up a slap single to the Bulldogs’ ninth hitter, freshman Madi White.
Schuler struck out 11, walked none and didn’t allow a single ball out of the infield by the Bulldogs (27-7) as Antioch (30-4), ranked No. 1 in 3A in the Illinois Softball Coaches Association’s poll, earned the program’s second state trophy after losing in a supersectional last season.
Topping off her near-perfect day, Schuler (20-3) beat out a two-out infield grounder to shortstop for a single in the bottom of the third, driving in senior Sophia Shaffer, who had walked, for the only run of the game.
Sophomore catcher Grace Green, who called Schuler’s pitches, and junior second baseman Emily Brecht, who made the defensive play of the game to keep the outfield pristine, both said they also were unaware a perfect game was a possibility.
“I’m kind of like, pitch, pitch, pitch, out, out, out,” Green said. “We tend to forget about what has happened.”
Brecht, a Tennessee Tech commit, said Antioch players like to keep it simple.
“Not until I got through the game did I know she was that close (to perfect),” Brecht said. “We just keep going, not overwhelming ourselves thinking about things like that.”
With one out in the third, Jenna Wade’s sharp grounder scooted just past Shaffer on her right side at first base. Ranging far to her left, Brecht cut off the ball, spun 360 degrees and fired a strike to Shaffer, barely beating Wade.
“I’m always really aggressive to the ball,” Brecht said. “And when I had an opportunity, I took it. When I went to throw the ball, I wasn’t even thinking. Every play you have a chance unless you don’t try.”
Schuler, who finished the season with 272 strikeouts in 145 innings to average 1.9 per inning, appreciates the defense behind her.
“Strikeouts are special to me, but I’ve had really good defense to back me up,” Schuler said. “They’ve had my back this whole season.”
It makes her a better pitcher, Rocco said.
“If we keep them off the bases, they have fewer opportunities to face Schuler and less chance to make adjustments against her,” he said.
The Sequoits didn’t have much more luck against Mahomet-Seymour starter Karley Yergler (23-4), who gave up four hits and just one that reached the outfield. The winning run was a classic example of small ball.
Shaffer walked, advanced to second on a bunt by Wisconsin recruit Eden Echevarria and moved to third on a groundout by Illinois recruit Gabby Debevec, bringing Schuler to the plate.
“It was such a good feeling because we always work on manufacturing runs,” Schuler said. “When I hit that ball, it’s a ground ball, but I put 110% effort into it. I tried my hardest to get down to first.”
The ball bounced just high enough off the turf field to give her enough time.
“We’ve got a lot of speed. They can leg stuff out,” Rocco said. “I always say if we score more than two runs, we have it in the bag.
“There’s been a lot of attention on Jacey as a pitcher, but she’s actually a fantastic outfielder too. She’s a two-way player on the travel scene.”
And, yes, Schuler can hit. She finished the season with 53 hits and a .486 batting average.
“She’s not just a one-dimensional player,” Rocco said.