The Brown County Eagles ended their 16-4 season in the second round of the sectional tournament on May 23.
After a brief rain delay, the varsity Eagles overcame Sullivan 6-2 in the first round May 21.
The Eagles were quick to hit, racking up all six runs in the first four innings. Sullivan fired back with two runs in the top of the fourth, but soon fizzled out in front of the Eagles’ defense led by pitcher Emma Summers.
Summers only gave up four hits through seven innings and netted a season total of 228 strikeouts.
Two days later, they faced off against rival Edgewood on their home field. The Eagles were 1-1 against that team during the regular season.
However, the defending sectional champions proved to be too much, as the Eagles lost 2-6, falling out of post-season contention.
Brown County was first to score in the top of the third inning, but Edgewood recovered and retaliated with four runs of their own in the same inning.
This proved to be the game’s turning point, as the remaining four innings were relatively even up until Edgewood’s additional run in the bottom of the sixth.
Aubrey Hollander, 16-year-old sophomore and catcher for the Eagles, still believes in her team’s ability, but said they struggled with self-doubt.
“We’re a very good team and we don’t realize it. We let that get to us,” she said. “It wasn’t good when we showed up, and it escalated pretty quickly.
“We knew Edgewood was good, and we didn’t react to what we knew they were going to do.”
Head Coach Kevin Greve said they knew the Mustangs would bring a powerful offensive lineup. ”Defensively, we knew they were going to put the ball in play. It’s what they do. They’re outstanding hitters.”
Throughout their 27 games this season, the Edgewood offense only failed to reach a double-digit score nine times.
While they didn’t hit double digits in this game, the Mustangs forced important defensive errors for the Eagles that eventually clinched the game.
“Emma did a fantastic job tonight. Defensively, we had our issues again behind her, and sometimes it festers for us a little bit when the defense doesn’t quite work itself out, and it kind of snowballs on us,” Greve said.
However, the team is young and has the ability to grow from the loss if they choose. “I think every season has to be a building block, and for these young girls, we have lots and lots of softball. We have a couple juniors coming back, too, so it’s kind of something that has to push you forward,” he said.
“These girls have done fantastic all year long, but we’ve got bigger aspirations. So the future, I hope, is something that drives these girls all off-season long.”
Hollander certainly believes the team has room to grow.
“We won the Western Indiana Conference. We now know that it’s not enough, and we have to build and react to things better than we did,” she said.
“We have a lot further to go and we can definitely do it.”
