Heming rebounds from ‘rough’ regional to shine in field, at plate in Liberty’s softball sectional semifinal victory

CONCORD, Ill. — It was fitting that the last ball put into play during Tuesday’s Class 1A sectional semifinal softball game was handled flawlessly by Liberty shortstop Ava Heming.

Every time a big play was needed, Heming came through.

Heming flawlessly fielded two grounders in the seventh, helped turn a double play in the fifth inning, drove in a run with a groundout in the fourth and drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth to help Liberty edge Delavan 4-3 at Triopia High School. The Eagles (24-5) will play for their first sectional championship since 2005 at 4 p.m. Friday when they meet Havana, which knocked out the host school 4-1 in Tuesday’s other semifinal game.

“She stepped up,” Eagles coach B.J. Fessler said about the junior shortstop.

He was proud of the way Heming rebounded from what he called a “rough” regional tournament last week in Barry. She had an error in a victory over Griggsville-Perry and two more miscues in the regional championship game against Pleasant Hill.

“She was beating herself up,” Fessler said. “In practice (Monday), we kind of went back to the basics and started talking about just staying low through the ball. Good things happen when you’re ready.”

“I had a few bad throws (in the regional), but luckily, I just pulled it together,” Heming said. “Throwing it to first for the very last out of the game was awesome.

“I just told myself, ‘You can do it.’ I just made sure that when I was fielding it, I stayed low to keep my throw low. I made sure I got it done.”

“She’s good when she has confidence in herself,” Liberty pitcher Chandler John said of Heming.

Heming’s RBI groundout in the top of the fourth was part of a three-run inning that broke a scoreless tie. A double by John, an error by Delavan first baseman Makenna Diekhoff and a walk to Camdyn Ormond loaded the bases with no outs. Shea Ionson drove in one run with a sacrifice fly, Riley Fessler’s bloop single to right drove in a run, and Heming’s RBI groundout wrapped up the frame.

Delavan’s first nine hitters in the game went down in order, but the Panthers scored three runs — all with two outs — in the bottom of the fourth. John gave up a single to Lainey Klokkenga, a double to left-center by Addi Fisher, a single to Kara Lowry and a double to right-center by Jayley Fisher.

“I just relied on my fastball too much,” John said. “I just told (catcher) Ally (Lefringhouse) that I needed to throw more off-speed. I just relied on the defense behind me and had confidence in myself that I could go back out there and throw strikes.”

“I don’t even think this team missed a beat. They’re like, ‘Let’s go get another one,’” B.J. Fessler said about Delavan’s comeback. “They’re pretty tough. They had a good attitude. They weren’t beating themselves up.”

Delavan appeared to have figured out John when Izzy Brothwood led off the bottom of the fifth with a single. However, the momentum of the game changed when Mia Mammen’s sharp grounder up the middle was fielded by Heming, who flipped it to second baseman Anna Dietrich for an out. Dietrich then fired to first baseman Claire Obert to complete the double play.

“We’ve only had one this season,” Heming said with a grin. “We always work on it during practice and before a game. We’re really lucky that we did pull that one out.”

“That (double play) came at a great time,” Fessler said. “Good footwork, good hands.”

While Liberty’s defense was flawless, two errors by Delavan during the top of the sixth were costly. With one out, Klokkenga, the Panthers’ pitcher, mishandled a comebacker by Ionson. Riley Fessler failed to get down two sacrifice bunts, but when she grounded to third, Fisher’s throw handcuffed second baseman Miley Harper. The ball glanced off Harper’s glove and into the outfield, allowing Ionson to advance to third.

Heming’s fly ball to center scored Ionson.

“I was looking just for a base hit, hopefully in the gap,” Heming said of her sixth-inning at-bat. “But I was also thinking, if you just hit it deep center, deep right or even deep left, you can make sure that the runner gets in from the tag.”

John retired the Panthers in order in the sixth and seventh to close out the victory.

“They’re going to grind you out,” B.J. Fessler said. “They’re going to try to get you.”

“I’m just so blessed to have such a great team,” Heming said. “I just knew coming into the season that this year was going to be our year.”