Seckman’s 7-6 upset victory over host Northwest in the first round of the Class 5 District 1 tournament Oct. 17 was a comeback in more ways than one.
Seeded seventh, the Jaguars (18-14) scored five runs in the sixth to pull out the win and end the season for the sixth-seeded Lions (20-11). Seckman advanced to the semifinals, losing 14-4 to Jackson (27-8), the No. 1 seed.
The win over Northwest featured a gritty performance by Jaguar pitcher Aedin Dempsey. With two outs in the bottom of the first inning and runners Raegan Shelton and Kaylee Eddings on base, Northwest pitcher Jordin Ragan hit a sharp comebacker right at Dempsey. The ball hit her in the midsection, knocking her down, and Ragan was safe at first with a single to load the bases.
Trainers attended to Dempsey for several moments before she got up, took a couple of warmup pitches and got back to work.
“It hit me right in the stomach, and I hit the ground and I didn’t know if I was going to come back up,” Dempsey said. “I was in a lot of pain. It knocked the breath out of me. I took a second, and I thought I could keep pitching.”
Junior Adeline Paszkiewicz was the next batter and her double cleared the bases to give the Lions a 3-1 lead. Senior Skye Comia made it 4-1 in the second with a sacrifice fly and senior Rose Consolino belted a solo home run in the third to increase the lead to a seemingly secure 5-1. Shelton dug into the batter’s box for a second time against Dempsey and whacked a line drive that the Jaguar hurler caught.
“All of my teammates were laughing at me and said, ‘you almost got it again,’” said Dempsey, who went the distance and allowed nine hits with three walks and two strtikeouts. “And I was like, ‘I know.’”
“It was a very important situation; we had two outs and (Dempsey) gets hit,” said Bryan Wyman, who just completed his first season as head coach at Seckman. “She gets back up, they get a hit. She shakes it off and she’s been tough all year. She’s pitched sick and everything else, so she’s always ready to go.
“We have a solid team. We have a good defense and we can hit with anybody. (Ragan) is a stellar pitcher, one of the best in the area. Our girls have done pretty well against the top pitchers this year. We’ve kind of played from behind all year. So I knew the girls were OK with that.”
Ragan pitched a complete game, giving up 11 hits with no walks, six strikeouts and one hit batter. For the season, Ragan was rock-solid with a 14-4 record in 111 1/3 innings, an earned run average of 2.01 and 94 strikeouts. She was two-for-four at the plate against Seckman and for the season batted .329 with 10 extra base hits and 21 runs batted in.
Northwest head coach Cody Huff said after the Lions started off hot, the momentum shifted.
“When they got on a roll, we had some errors that compounded the situation,” Huff said. “It’s not like Jordan was giving up massive hits. She gets a lot of weak contact. It’s up to us to make the plays, but Seckman took advantage of it.
“We were connecting at the plate and finding holes, but I think they made some defensive changes to counteract those hits. Toward the end, we were pressing too much. We were finding the handle more than the barrel.”
The pivotal Seckman sixth started with a Ragan strikeout before the barrage began. Junior Payton Bantle singled, senior Audrey Davis doubled and with runners on second and third, senior Grace Harvell’s single made it 5-3. Harvell was out on a fielder’s choice by senior catcher Kendall Altman, before seniors Claire Knoll, Emma Maness and junior Haley Kramer strung together singles, the last two tying the game. Senior Aubrie Baur made it 6-5 with a two-out single.
Dempsey retired the Lions in order in the sixth and Harvell singled, scoring Bantle for a key insurance run in the seventh to make it 7-5. Harvell, who tied Altman for the team lead in homers with seven, was three-for-four with four RBIs against the Lions.
“(Harvell) missed school the last two days with an illness,” Wyman said. “Even Grace at 65 percent is as good as anybody out there and she swings a good bat.”
Her RBI was crucial because after Dempsey got the first two Northwest batters out in the seventh, Eddings launched a homer to make it a one-run game. Consolino walked and Ragan reached on an error, heightening the late drama, but Dempsey got a flyout to end the game.
The Lions won 20 games and were 8-0 as champions of the Suburban Conference Red pool.
“We met some of the goals we set,” Huff said. “We won conference, we won 20 games. We outscored opponents by 120 runs. We added some hard teams to our schedule to get ready for districts and today we got a little bit complacent.”
Seckman was 6-2 in the Red pool, falling 12-3 to the Lions in September.
“I told the girls after the (district win), ‘Northwest is a hell of a team,’ Wyman said. “This is just the beginning. I think the district is wide open and five teams can win it.”