Breakfast of champions: Sweet treats, hot bats carry Wolves to third regional title in four years

CAMP POINT, Ill. — The Pleasant Hill softball team received a special delivery on the way to Saturday morning’s Class 1A Camp Point Regional championship game.

“The Fourth of July committee in Pleasant Hill was selling donuts at the four-way stop, and I guess they saw the bus getting ready and they said, ‘Stop by the four-way. We have some donuts,’” Wolves coach Ryan Lowe said. “They gave us two or three dozen donuts.”

Those donuts provided the fuel the Wolves needed to slug their way to a 15-0 victory over Camp Point Central in four innings. This is the Wolves’ second consecutive regional title and third in four years.

Lowe said this group, which has been together since junior high, has changed the perception around Pleasant Hill softball.

“Back when they were in junior high, we won a tournament at North Greene and it was like we won the Super Bowl,” Lowe said. “We just didn’t win in softball, so it was a huge deal when those girls won. The second year, we won it again and it was like, ‘You know, that’s a pretty good deal.’ Then the third year it was like, ‘Throw the trophy on the bus, let’s go home.’

“That’s a good problem to have. You want to be that program that people talk about and that is expected to win.”

There was plenty of buzz and chatter about the Wolves on Saturday, especially after they jumped on the Panthers with four runs in the first inning. Jade Peebles drove in the first run with a one-out double to center field, then Makenna Winchell, Hannah Hill and Emma Henderson each hit sharp singles up the middle to score the next three runs.

The Wolves (25-5) tacked on two more runs in the second on a Peebles double and a Winchell single. They had already scored three runs in the third when Winchell strode to the plate with one out. She drove a 1-0 pitch from Lauren Miller over the right-field fence for a three-run home run that extended the lead to a dozen.

“I knew it was gone right off the bat,” Winchell said. “When I got in the box, I was like, ‘Man, I just hope she throws me something I can get a hold of.’”

Kali VanStrien and Ava Wombles each contributed RBI doubles in the third, and McKinley Lowe tossed a scoreless inning in the top of the fourth. This set the stage for Jade Peebles, who led off the bottom of the fourth one swing away from ending the game.

She provided that swing.

Peebles belted a home run to left center to put the mercy rule into effect. Peebles knew McKinley Lowe wasn’t at full strength, so she wanted to end the game and give Lowe some extra rest.

“I was just so excited,” Peebles said. “I knew McKinley’s arm was hurting so Coach Lowe was like, ‘Let’s get this done quick.’ I just wanted to get McKinley done pitching so we could give her a break.”

McKinley Lowe said she has been fighting some elbow soreness since pitching an eight-inning complete game against Quincy Notre Dame on May 4.

“We’ve just been doing a lot of ice and Ibuprofen,” Lowe said. “Hopefully we can get up to 100 percent come next game.”

The Wolves cranked out 15 hits while only making nine outs, and every batter in the starting lineup had a hit. Five of those hits went for extra bases.

“We always preach pass the bat, and the girls just kept passing the bat,” McKinley Lowe said. “It was fun.”

While Central’s season ended sooner than coach Brey Genenbacher would have liked, she said the Panthers can be proud of getting to a regional championship and the character they showed in doing so.

“This was a great group of girls,” Central coach Brey Genenbacher said. “There wasn’t any drama on the team. They were all friendly, they were all respectful, and that’s nice to coach. Even though the season didn’t end how we wanted to, at the end of the day, they’re still good human beings, and that’s what matters.”

The top-seeded Wolves now turn their attention to the Illini Bluffs Sectional semifinal. They will face third-seeded Havana at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Illini Bluffs High School.