St. Paul wins state
Lady Cardinals avenge 2003 state loss
Wednesday, May 19th, 2004
Bill Hatch, Victoria Advocate Sports Writer
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WACO - Matt Karnes had a moment of doubt but his pitcher Kaedy Hermes never doubted that St. Paul would prevail.
Shiner St. Paul Girls Softball Team - 2004 TAPPS 1A-2A State Champs Click on photo to enlarge (photo by Shiner Gazette)
As it turned out, they were both right as the Lady Cardinals scratched out an unearned run in the fourth inning to take a 1-0 win over the Sacred Heart Indianettes and win the TAPPS State Softball Tournament Class 1A-2A championship Tuesday morning at the McLennan Community College softball field.
Hermes was nearly untouchable, pitching five innings of no-hit ball, and catcher Haley Valis lent a big helping hand by erasing three of Sacred Heart's four baserunners - two on steal attempts and one on a pickoff.
Despite that fine pitching, St. Paul (29-5) couldn't shake a tenacious effort by Sacred Heart (12-12) and pitcher Christine Wenske, who allowed four hits, walked one and struck out one in six innings.
The game was scoreless for three innings and that one-run lead in the fourth seemed pretty slim for a state championship game, but it held up, thanks to the determination of Hermes.
"I was not really worried," Hermes said. "We have a lot of confidence. We weren't worried at any time, just a little anxious to get it done."
Sacred Heart won state softball titles in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 and 2003. The one last year shocked St. Paul, which fell to the Indianettes, 4-2, in the championship game.
"This feels good, real good," said Karnes, the St. Paul head softball coach. "I was a little worried there for a little while. Sacred Heart did an outstanding job. They always play well against us so a little doubt crept into my mind, then it vanished.
"It crept into my mind because of last year," he added. "But it wasn't there for long. I knew that if anything bad happened, we'd bounce right back. We have all year."
St. Paul had several chances to score. Samantha Dubose reached on an error with one out in the first but was thrown out stealing. In the second inning, Calli Schacherl walked and stole second with one out but Wenske got Brooke Broussard on a grounder back to the mound and Krystal Patek on a flyout to left.
In the third, Kayla Harabis got the first hit of the game, a clean single to left with one out. She never made it to second base as Wenske got Jessica Valis and Dubose on pop outs.
Sacred Heart also mounted a couple of early threats. With two outs in the first, Renee Johnson reached on a throwing error and moved to second on a stolen base before Wenske walked. Then the twin sisters teamed for a pickoff to end the inning as Haley Valis made a snap throw to second where Jessica Valis caught Johnson well off the sack and tagged her out to end the inning.
In the third with two outs, Kandis Konvicka walked and was thrown out on an attempted steal of second by Haley Valis, with shortstop Schacherl applying the tag.
Hermes seemed particularly strong in the middle innings as she set the Indianettes down in order in the fourth and fifth.
That was big as St. Paul scored a run in the fourth with one out. Hermes blooped a single to center and moved all the way to third on a bunt single by Schacherl and the ensuing close play at first. Schacherl then stole second before Brooke Broussard hit a grounder to Sacred Heart shortstop Johnson, who threw home to get Hermes.
The throw beat the Lady Cardinal but Jaime Jahn couldn't hold on to the ball as she applied the tag and Hermes scored the game's only run. Wenske didn't let the run upset her and even got the next two Lady Cardinals out on fly balls to Johnson.
Sacred Heart threatened in the sixth when Kelly Fenner got the first hit off Hermes, a single to left. The threat quickly died as Fenner was thrown out by Haley Valis on an attempted steal of second. The next two Indianettes ripped line drives but both were right at Lady Cardinal fielders and Hermes got out of the inning.
In the seventh, Hermes set Sara Steinocher down on a ground out second to first and Johnson on a pop out to second before Wenske got Sacred Heart's second hit of the game. However, two pitches later, Hermes got Laura Grafe to pop out and end the game.
"That's the way a state championship game is supposed to be played," said Sacred Heart head coach Pat Henke. "We just came up a little short. Kaedy pitched a tremendous game from the start and hit her spots well,
"Christine pitched a good game, probably her best game of the year," he added. "They squeezed out a run and we didn't. I was proud to be a part of this. This is a great softball team that beat us. And we almost pulled it out."
Sacred Heart deployed several shifts to try to throw the Lady Cardinals off- balance. For several hitters, they had the outfield shift to one side of the field. In another set, they used an extra infielder and had just two players in the outfield. In both cases, there were huge, gapping holes in the outfield.
"We did some different things," Henke said. "When you are the underdog, you have to take chances."
Karnes said, "Maybe we should have tried a little harder to hit it the other way. But we didn't want to change what we did. We just felt if we hit it hard, it would get through them."
The result of that move could be seen in Karnes' arms, a huge, shiny gold glove that goes to the state champion.
"This is pretty heavy," he said. "But I don't want to put it down."
It is the second state championship for St. Paul, which also won in 1999.
Game summary Score F Sacred Heart 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 St. Paul 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Highlights WP: Kaedy Hermes. LP: Christine Wenske. Highlights: (SH) Kelly Fenner 1-for-2; Wenske 1-for-2, walk and 6 IP, 1 unearned run, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeouts; (SP) Haley Valis 1-for-3; Calli Schacheral 1-for-2, walk; Kayla Harabis 1-for-2; Hermes 1-for-3, run and 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks. Records: Sacred Heart 12-12, St. Paul 29-5.St. Paul Sports Schedules | Return to Shiner Home Page
CONGRATULATIONS, LADY CARDINALS !
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