WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana — In the moment Saturday night, Hanover Central’s Rebecca Ferguson knew she wasn’t alone.
The junior second baseman stepped to the plate with two outs and two teammates in scoring position in the seventh inning of the Class 3A state championship game. Top-ranked Indianapolis Cathedral had a three-run lead.
“There was a lot of pressure,” Ferguson said. “But I had my teammates and my family, and everyone who came out was there to support me.”
Ferguson came through, hitting a two-run single to give the Wildcats hope, but Cathedral pulled out a 5-4 win at Purdue’s Bittinger Stadium.
“Everyone fought to the end and gave it everything they had,” Ferguson said. “I don’t think one person wasn’t ready every second.”
Ferguson, who entered the game hitting .324 with 15 RBIs, certainly seemed ready when it mattered most.
“Big hit,” Hanover Central coach Sam Antkiewicz said. “Everyone on our team has had key hits throughout the year. She was right there battling, and she was able to get a barrel on it and put that ball over the second baseman’s head.
“That’s just a testament to her, knowing what to do, the softball IQ, and looking for a pitch she could handle and put the ball in play. She put the ball in play, and good things happen.”
In the seventh, Hanover Central junior center fielder Adeline McMahon and junior designated player Kaden Poppe walked with one out and advanced on a wild pitch before Ferguson’s hit.
“That was great,” Hanover Central junior catcher Sienna Stilley said. “You could tell by the way she was just looking to attack, and that’s exactly what she did. She had so much confidence in herself, and she knew she could do it.
“She got so much energy from the dugout because we were telling her, ‘You got it,’ and she did. I’m very, very happy for her.”
Stilley crushed a two-run homer to left-center to give the Wildcats (18-3) the lead in the third inning against Cathedral (29-2), which was ranked No. 1 in the final state coaches poll and won its first championship.
“It was electric,” Stilley said. “That’s the only word for it. You look up from running the bases and you see your entire fan base standing there and cheering you on. That’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my entire life.
“We worked really, really hard. It just goes to show that no matter what your record looks like, you can’t count us out. It just goes to show how much we care and how much we love it. We stuck together.”
Cathedral scored four runs in the fourth against freshman pitcher Jillian DeYoung, who continued to excel in the circle and also had one of the Wildcats’ four hits, and added a run in the fifth. Sophomore left fielder Nora Edgerton also had a hit for Hanover Central.
“You can’t ask for anything more,” Antkiewicz said. “Obviously, we’d like to be in the opposite position where we’re up a couple of runs going into that last inning. But we’re down, and credit to our girls, they didn’t give up, they kept chipping away, kept getting girls on base.
“Then the next thing you know, we have the tying run up to the plate, and that’s what I told them all along — just hang in there, just hang in there. When you’re within three runs, you’re within striking distance.”
Antkiewicz came away impressed.
“I can’t be prouder of this group,” he said. “I’m so proud of the way they fought back and the way they handled themselves and the way they showed they deserve to be here.”
Indeed, the Wildcats weren’t the most likely of state finalists, but they proved worthy.
“We were really the underdogs,” Ferguson said. “It was amazing we came through and beat everyone who we weren’t expected to beat, even though we got here and couldn’t do it.”
