Storm warning: Budde’s first start ends in victory as Blue Devils make stellar defensive plays

QUINCY — A sun-splashed afternoon was a surprising setting for an unexpected Storm.

Not even the Quincy High School softball player at the center of it saw it coming.

When she arrived at the QHS field in advance of a Western Big 6 Conference matchup with Rock Island Alleman, junior Storm Budde learned she was going to make her varsity pitching debut. Shock and awe is a pretty apropos way of describing her reaction.

“It was kind of funny because I was standing there and she looked at the lineup and goes, ‘Does that say what I think it says?’” Quincy coach Darrell Henze said. “I said, ‘Yep.’”

Yet, there was no anxiety in her approach. Budde struck out five, walked one and tossed a complete game in the Blue Devils’ 4-2 victory. 

“For it being her first time pitching on varsity, she did amazing,” Quincy junior catcher Kate Mettemeyer said. “She went out there and did what she needed to do. She threw strikes. She made them put balls in play where we could defend it. I was so proud of her.”

That doesn’t mean she wasn’t nervous.

“Oh, she was a little nervous. She told me that,” Mettemeyer said. “I gave her a little pep talk. I told her, ‘You just need to calm down. You know what to do. I’ve seen it.’ I’ve caught her before. She is amazing and always has been since eighth grade when I started catching her. She just went out there and did it.”

Budde suffered a knee injury that sidelined her for her entire freshman season and chose not to play last season. She made the decision to return to the softball team this spring and has progressively improved her velocity and location since practice began.

It culminated Tuesday as part of the Blue Devils’ complete defensive effort.

Quincy (3-3, 1-2 WB6) threw one Alleman runner out at the plate, cut down another trying to steal third, stranded the bases loaded without allowing a run in the sixth inning and made every play in the outfield, including center fielder Avery Hlubek making an over-the-shoulder running catch.

“Without defense, everything just falls apart,” senior left fielder Kayden Smith said.

The Blue Devils never did. They trailed 1-0 going to the bottom of the third inning but scored single runs in four consecutive innings to take control.

In the third, Ivy Winter and Mettemeyer collected back-to-back singles with two outs, and Winter scored on an error. In the fourth, Paige Kurfman singled with one out, Ariana Adorno single and Smith followed with an RBI double. In the fifth, Aryauna Allen led off by reaching on a dropped third strike, stole second, went to third on Winter’s single and stole home for the third run.

In the sixth, the Blue Devils loaded the bases with two outs courtesy of an Adorno single and two walks before an infield single by Winter brought home Adorno.

Alleman’s Alysa Brinkman reached on an error leading off the seventh, but Budde recorded a strikeout, a flyout and a groundout to end the game.

“It definitely means a lot to us to win this, and it helps with our confidence,” Smith said. “I liked how we never gave up and our defense was super good today.”

That was the perfect storm.

“We really saw some bright spots happen,” Henze said. “I’ll take this win any day of the week and build off it.”