Softball: Camryn Stecken’s homer lifts Seneca over St. Bede

PERU – When Seneca first baseman Camryn Stecken stepped to the plate in the top of the eighth inning against St. Bede with the Tri-County Conference title on the line, she took the same approach as always.

“I say to myself every single at-bat, ‘See the ball, hit the ball,’” Stecken said.

She hit it alright.

Stecken smacked a high fly ball to center field.

St. Bede center fielder Emma Slingsby got back to the fence and managed to get her glove on the ball.

But it fell over the fence for a solo home run that proved to be the game winner in the Fighting Irish’s 3-2, eight-inning victory Tuesday that locked up the conference title.

“I actually thought it was a pop-up because I saw the center fielder standing there,” Stecken said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just popped out,’ but then I saw it go over.

“It feels great. It feels great for me, and it feels great for my team.”

Stecken rounded third base and trotted home with all her teammates waiting for her. She waved her arms above her head in celebration as she cross the plate and was mobbed by her teammates.

“It felt good,” Stecken said. “I had all my teammates at home plate ready for me. They were all going crazy. [Coach Brian] Holman gave me a big high-five.

“I was pumped.”

While Stecken’s homer gave the Irish the lead, they still had to close it out in the bottom of the eighth.

Seneca pitcher Tessa Krull struck out the first batter, left fielder Graysen Provance ran in to make a shoestring catch in shallow left for the second out, and third baseman Sam Vandevelde caught a pop-up in foul territory to end the game.

“We just kept ourselves in it long enough to get one good swing,” Holman said. “We were struggling. We haven’t had a ton of practices [recently], so when a couple girls get out of sync, it’s hard to get them back in sync. Especially when you have a Division I pitcher throwing at you and a top-10 team out there. But we just fought through it long enough to let Cam get one good swing on it.”

The Fighting Irish fought out of a tough spot in the bottom of the seventh.

St. Bede loaded the bases with one out.

On a squeeze bunt attempt, St. Bede’s Lily Bosnich got caught between third base and home plate and was tagged out in a rundown. Krull then got a groundout to get out of the inning.

Krull earned the win as she pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

“That’s how we’ve been, and I hope it stays that way,” Holman said. “I don’t know if we’re naive or if it’s just the way we approach things, but in big situations, the teams we have here don’t crack under pressure. It was some good execution. Tessa pitched to the spots we wanted and we got lucky and executed a rundown and got out of it.”

The Bruins (18-4, 14-2 TCC) struck first when Ella Hermes singled and scored when Lili McClain laid down a bunt and the throw to first went into the outfield.

Seneca took the lead with two runs in the third.

Vandevelde hit an RBI double to left-center field. She got caught between third and home on a bunt attempt and scored when the throw home got away.

St. Bede tied it again when Maddy Dalton launched a solo homer to center field in the fourth inning.

Reagan Stoudt took the loss for the Bruins as she pitched a complete game, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

The Fighting Irish are 27-1 overall and 15-0 in the conference with only a game against Woodland left.

“It’s tough,” Holman said about the conference. “St. Bede’s tough. Everybody kind of complains about our conference, but they don’t come out to games and actually watch how competitive is. It’s been a long grind. We had a 16 games in 18 days stretch and we really didn’t have practice, and we kind of found a way to get some things down.”