'You find a way to win': Castle rallies to claim Class 4A softball championship
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – This was surely not the plan Castle coach Pat Lockyear had in mind.
His team had not lost to an unranked opponent all season. But here the Knights were trailing by four runs in the sectional championship. A shock to everyone sitting on the visitor side of the bleachers.
You know who didn’t panic? The team in the visiting dugout. Following multiple shortcomings in recent years, the Knights refused to let it happen again. Not when they had the pieces to win.
Castle rallied to beat Central 8-6 to claim the Class 4A softball sectional championship at North High School. Trailing 4-0 in the third, the Knights reclaimed the lead two innings later before fending off the Bears’ own rally.
MORE SOFTBALL: IHSAA high school softball sectional scores for the Evansville area
The first sectional title for the program since 2018. A roller coaster evening that ended in celebration.
“You find a way to win,” said Lockyear. “We’ve been down in games before and adjusted. We had two really tough games to start (the postseason). I told them the third game was going to be the hardest one.”
Despite being the sectional favorite – the Knights (26-8) were the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference champs and ranked No. 13 in the final poll – the blind draw did them no favors. Castle battled North to a 3-0 win in the first round and shut down Jasper 6-0 in the semifinal.
The final test was a team it beat a month prior but one surging at the right time. The Knights had also struggled to swing the bat with a combined 11 runs in five games. The ingredients were there for another postseason exit.
What happened between the third and sixth innings shut down that notion. The offense came alive. Brooklyn Ballis stopped the bleeding in the circle and her defense backed her up with game-saving plays.
“We had so much fire under us,” said Ballis. “We wanted this so bad. We were not going to give up.”
How did it nearly get away? Central did what few others have done. The Bears hit Ballis hard with Hailee Vallee and Emma Synder finding gaps in the outfield. The scoreboard read 4-0 before the Knights could adjust.
After pitching a shutout against Jasper earlier in the day, Ballis felt the nerves in that third inning. It was the most runs she had given up in over a month.
“She got the ball up a little bit,” said Lockyear. “Give (Central) credit. They hit the ball well and we had to play good defense. I think she did a great job pitching two games in a day.”
Castle went to work. Two runs in the third on doubles from Ballis and Madison Beckhart. Jackie Lis tied it in the fourth with a two-run rocket to the outfield wall. Lydia Stowe put the Knights on top in fifth with a bloop single. Molly Bartz and Dylan Geil (a two-run double) padded the lead in the sixth.
After relying on Ballis for weeks, it was a dynamic offense that sprung to life. Castle needed every run too. Central (12-12) added two more runs in the seventh and had two runners on before Ballis got the final strikeout.
Geil finished with three of the Knights’ 11 hits. Lis and Ballis had two doubles apiece.
“We didn’t come in as energetic as we should have,” said Lis. “We were all kind of tired but (the third inning) lit a fire in us. We started to figure it out again. It felt good to be out there and help my team win.”
The offense wasn’t the only reason Castle won this championship. The comeback is only made tougher, if not impossible, without the defense. The Knights turned two double plays, while Molly Bartz made three diving catches in centerfield.
The latter part was as critical as any strikeout. Two came with the bases loaded.
“I was just thinking don’t let my teammates down,” said Bartz. “Brooklyn was pitching really hard. I worked really hard on my speed and reading the ball off the bat. As soon as the ball came, it had to be all or nothing.”
“If she didn’t prove she was the right person for the job, she certainly did today,” added Lockyear.
Danika Dix and Vallee had three hits apiece for the Bears, who put a scare into one of the top teams in Southern Indiana. If there was ever any doubt about this team, it disappeared with this effort.
The Knights answered the call many times this season. Castle continued winning despite its top hitter sidelined for weeks until late May. It found a winning formula with pitching and defense when bats went cold. The Knights then pieced together a team effort to win a championship.
Castle will host No. 5 Bedford North Lawrence (27-2) on Tuesday in the regional. The Knights lost to the Stars to open the season in March. This is a different team now. It showed why this week.
“We know what kind of team they are,” said Lockyear. “It’s going to be a much different environment. We had been in a team slump but defense and pitching had held up. Today, our offense came through.”
Follow Courier & Press sports reporter Kyle Sokeland on Twitter @kylesokeland.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: IHSAA softball: Castle rallies to claim Class 4A championship
