EAST PEORIA, Ill. — Up, then down. Up, then down. Up, then down.
But never out.
After all of the hits, all of the runs, all of the unlikely rallies, Teagan Sopczak proved to be the ultimate hero Saturday for Providence in a record-setting 16-15 victory over Mount Zion.
The Celtics (29-12) earned a Class 3A third-place trophy for the second time in the program’s history.
Sopczak, a sophomore outfielder, ended a crazy day of softball in the bottom of the eighth inning with a line-drive single to right field that scored pinch-runner Alyssa Ibarra with the final run.
The game-winning hit followed a single by Emily Pilon and a double by Maggie Hurley.
“I was hoping to end it,” Sopczak said. “I was just trying to get a base hit to the right side and score someone. I just tried my best.”
Her explanation for how the Celtics found the fortitude to fight back with the door seemingly slammed shut was even more simple.
“There’s just no reason to give up,” Sopczak said. “We know we have good ability and we felt that the whole time.”
Providence’s heroes? They were everywhere.
And so were state finals records.
The 31 combined runs smashed the previous total in any class.
The 16 runs and 22 hits by the Celtics were the most by one team in 3A.
As for the other heroes…
Shannon Smith finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs. She had a triple during a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh that tied the game at 15-15.
“That felt really good,” Smith said. “But it was all pretty crazy. That was a lot of runs. Everybody hit really well.”
Trailing 15-11 and down to the final three outs, the Celtics received new life when Maggie Joutras hit a leadoff home run. Afterward, a tear formed under her right eye as she talked about looking for redemption after some costly errors at third base.
“I knew that I wasn’t really there in the field and I had to do something to make up for it,” Joutras said. “Coach (Jay Biesterfeld) had some pretty encouraging words that got me back in there mentally.”
Sopczak’s two-out double, a home run by Taylor Young and Smith’s triple set the table for Lex Leighton, who delivered a game-tying single to left field.
The crazy, unlikely, never-say-die rally was complete.
“I was thinking that I’ve been ready for this my whole life,” Leighton said. “It felt really good to tie it up. It was special to me.”
Senior Hannah Falejczyk will never forget her final high school game. She cracked a three-run homer.
And then there was Laila Summers.
The sophomore right-hander started for the Celtics and gave up seven runs before being taken out. Freshman Nicole Mucha took over, but Biesterfeld went back to Summers during a five-run seventh by Mount Zion.
In the top of the eighth, Summers was a perfect 1-2-3.
“You know, I was just ready to go in and shut it down,” Summer said. “I was so ready. Boy, this team can hit, and I knew if I got out of the inning they’d go back out there and get it done.”
And so they did, finishing a season that started out 0-4, had many peaks and valleys and ended in historic fashion.
“I think we shocked people,” Leighton said. “In the beginning of the season we weren’t prepared like we are now. I’ll always remember the family, always fighting through, never giving up.”
