Class AAA State Champs

Metamora wins 3A title for school’s first state team trophy in a girls sport

EAST PEORIA — Who knew gold would be such a fashionable spring look in Metamora?

Great pitching and timely hitting lifted the Redbirds to a 4-2 victory over River Forest Trinity in the Class 3A state championship game Saturday at EastSide Centre’s Mizuno Field.

The softball state trophy was the first for Metamora in any girls sport.

The Redbirds (39-1) used a heavy dose of key hits to jump ahead early.

Justine Phillips became the first player to hit two home runs in a softball title game. Her first homer gave the Redbirds a 1-0 first-inning lead.

Phillips, who was coming off an 0-for-3 performance in Friday’s semifinal, got some extra hitting work in before the game.

“I’ve been around her long enough, that if she gets a couple good batting practices,” Metamora coach Deric Linder said, “the next thing you know, she explodes.”

And explode, she did.

Working the count to 2-1, Phillips ripped Trinity pitcher Chase Machain’s offering over the fence in dead center field.

“It was a right-down-the-pipe pitch,” the senior shortstop said, “and that’s what I’m looking for, so I went for it.”

Metamora made it 2-0 in the second inning when Morgan Obery showed some heads-up base running.

The senior right fielder reached on a two-out bunt single she pushed right between Machain and Blazers first basemen Erin Baldwin.

She then stole second, advanced to third on a Kasey Kanaga single and scored on a Vivi Castellanos error at second.

“I knew that I had to be aggressive,” Obery said, “and I knew I could steal on the girl.”

But Trinity responded in its typical fashion — via the home run.

The Blazers got their 49th homer of the season from designated player Laura Eichenold, who finished the game 2-for-3.

Eichenold launched a 2-0 offering from Jodi Rebholz into the left-field bleachers.

Rebholz said she knew what sort of powerful lineup she was up against and wasn’t intimidated.

“I wasn’t necessarily cautious,” she said. “It’s just go up thinking, ‘They aren’t going to get anything off me and that’s how it’s going to be.’”

The senior right-hander (30-1, nine strikeouts, no walks) kept the Blazers hitters on their heels.

She was able to throw a variety of fastballs as well as tight inside pitches.

“We called a lot of balls at the hands, like right inside, and they were passing those up,” Metamora catcher Jami Daniel said.

It remained 2-1 until Phillips led off the fifth inning. Her inside-the-park home run gave the Redbirds a 3-1 cushion.

Machain’s 1-0 pitch was lifted by Phillips into the gap in right-center field.

Trinity center fielder Amanda Ramirez and right fielder Nicole Evans collided on the warning track, with neither player touching the ball.

“I was coming up to second base and I saw (the outfielders) just laying there,” Phillips said. “I was like, ‘I have some speed, so I might as well use it to.’”

The Blazers fought back again, making it 3-2 in the sixth thanks to an RBI single from Giana Coduti with no outs.

Rebholz got out of the jam without further damage, stranding two runners on base.

“That was the key,” Linder said.

Krista Polanin’s run set the final score in the seventh. She singled, stole second and scored when Maddie Anglin reached on a one-out error.

Rebholz, who retired the final six batters she faced, ended the game when Castellanos struck out on an outside fastball.

“I just went a little bit farther to see if she’d go after it and she did,” Rebholz said.

Trinity was plagued by eight runners left on base. The Blazers got lead-off runners on in the third, fourth and fifth but stranded them in scoring position each time.

“We had a hard time pushing through,” Trinity coach Bob Osborne said.