By Mike Monahan

HIGHLAND – Charleston High softball reached the Class 3A IHSA Sectional championship for the third time in history, and the second time over the past few years, after beating Highland 5-0 on Wednesday.

Charleston used small ball early to take a 3-0 lead after the first inning and Addison Shrader, pitching in her second straight game, allowed just three hits. Shrader threw 88 pitches, 52 for strikes. 

“I threw literally all of my pitches, and they were moving and they were not getting solid contact,” said Shrader, who is 6-0 this season. “We just kind of kept them off-balance. I would throw inside and then outside and then throw a drop curve and then a rise. I was just going back and forth. I throw a fastball, drop curve and rise and kind of a screwball but not a screwball. I went to a pitching coach in Shelbyville (Tony Moll) and he taught me that. It has been effective.”

The Trojans (26-5) play Waterloo, a 7-0 winner in 10 innings over Carbondale, at noon Saturday in a rematch of the sectional semifinal game played two seasons ago, and won by Waterloo 9-2.

Waterloo is 20-12-1 after having won five straight. Waterloo twice lost to Highland this season – 5-4 in 8 innings and 13-6 – and finished fourth in the Mississippi Valley Conference won by Highland.

The winner Saturday advances to the supersectional at Millikin against the winner of the sectional championship game between Mt. Zion (31-5) and Chatham Glenwood (29-1-1).

“It was a good team win,” said Charleston coach Blain Mayhall, who is 234-82 in 10 seasons. “We actually worked on bunt situations and moving runners when you need to. The first inning was nice.”

Highland’s Alexandra Shultz, who was 2-for-3, started the game off with a double to left on a full-count pitch. She moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Abigail Schutlz before Shrader got out ot the inning with a ground out and a fly out.

The Trojans scored in the first inning after getting just one hit out of the infield.

Charleston started with a single to right by Shrader and freshman Avery Beals, who leads the team with a .621 average, reached on a bunt down the first-base line. With one out, both Shrader and Beals moved up a base on a wild pitch. Kailyn Wilson reached on an error as Shrader came home with the first run of the game and Beals moved to third. Beals scored on a wild pitch followed by another Highland error on a bunt that scored Wilson for the third run.

“We never really got that big hit in the game,” said Mayhall. “The ball was just not coming off the bat for either team. It just sounded like mush to me. Credit the pitchers, though. We did all of the right things at the right times.”

Shrader, who was making her fifth start of the entire season, retired the Bulldogs in order in the second before Alexandra Schultz singled to left and advanced to second on a passed ball. Shrader got out of the inning on a full-count pitch that resulted in a fly ball to left.

Highland threatened in the fifth when a Highland batter singled to left, advanced to second on a wild pitch and reached third on a sacrifice. But the runner was stranded when Beals caught a foul ball for the final out.

“Addison was masterful on hitting spots,” said Mayhall. “Amber May calls the pitches and we are lucky to have her calling the pitches for us. That is huge for us. Addison trusts her to make the right call and to execute, and she did that today.”

It was the third shutout of the season for the Trojans.

Shrader said the early CHS lead helped her relax.

“As a pitcher, it makes me feel comfortable,” said Shrader. “I can go out there smiling and my nerves are off because it is like if they get a few we still have that cushion. So knowing my hitters are able to do that for me is awesome. I can just go out there and throw and have fun. It lightened the mood. We were all having fun. Obviously, we are going to try and get the outs, though.”

It was only the third time Highland had been shutout.

“It (pitching performance) is like me coming in and saying this is my statement,” said Shrader. “I have two amazing senior pitchers above me. Being a No. 3 pitcher, I always tell my parents I just want to pitch. I just want to try. The fact that I am getting the chance to pitch in these huge games is something I can’t even wrap my head around. When I got into this big game and saw those big girls coming up, I was like ‘Oh, my goodness. But it was just so much fun.”

The Trojans put pressure on Highland by threatening every inning except the fifth.

Charleston added a run in the third on a double steal. Wilson singled and Erin Blair singled to left, putting runners on the corners. That is when Blair attempted to steal second, but was out. At the same time, Kailyn Wilson stole home on the play. The final run occurred on a sacrifice fly by Moore to score Olivia Schuette, who was running for Brie Tomlinson.

“We were getting in position to get another run, especially because you are trying to get a little cushion going into the seventh,” said Mayhall. “Addison (Shrader) gets on base and Avery (Beals) does what she does. She is a triple threat at the plate so no one knows what she is really going to do. She was on base all four times.”

Charleston entered the game averaging 11 runs per game and allowing five with a .460 batting

Beals had four of Charleston’s 10 hits while Shrader added two more.

“It means a lot to me because I am just trying to do what my team needs and, right now, that means me getting on base so I can get around and score runs for my teammates,” said Beals. “They deserve it more than anything. As a freshman, I could not have seen it coming and it has been a huge confidence boost just to be able to come in and do the great things for a team that is going to continue to be good.”

As CHS celebrated, out came a familiar good luck charm for the Trojans and that is baby 2.0.

“We started this last year,” said Karah Moore, a senior, who is headed to Lake Land and had a sacrifice fly for a run batted in. “We had a team bonding night and for some reason they went to go buy a baby (doll) and then we decorated it. We were like ‘This is going to be in the dugout with us. It is going to be our good luck charm. We messed  with it last year against Mt. Zion and cracked his head open. So, we retired that baby and this season we got a new one identical. We took it out of our dugout for awhile, but we put it back and our bats just have been on fire. So, we just have to have it in our dugout. It is something that is just for our team and I think it is pretty cool.”

Highland finished 24-8-1. 

“Honestly, we have been doing that all year,” said Highland coach Glenn Nichols of coming from behind as they did so in the regional championship to beat Troy Triad 12-9. “We have been behind multiple times in the season. We have really had the stick to it ness kind of mentality where the kids never give up. We are playing seven innings, we are playing seven innings. I never thought that game was over by any stretch. They jumped on us in the first inning, really playing a lot of small ball in the first inning and then we booted a couple of balls around and the next thing you know they put three on the board, but I didn’t really think that was going to hold. I felt as though our offense was good enough to put some runs on the board. We started off with a leadoff double in the first inning and we didn’t get that run in. “We will get them next inning.’ That is the way the whole season has gone. We might spot a team a couple of runs,but really they only had two runs for the rest of the game, but, if you don’t score, you don’t win. We didn’t bring our A-game today, I don’t think. I know it is a good quality well coached team, and I tip my hat to them. They brought what it took to win a game “

Highland loses five seniors and had three starters from the 2021 Class 3A state championship team who started Wednesday.

Beals was happy to help her teammates. 

Moore tied the season record for the most runs batted in Charleston softball history in one season with 63. 

“Coach Mayhall has always been great with us just being loose and being high schoolers,” said Beals. “It keeps good energy going in so we never get nervous. I think that plays a huge role in how close we are as a team and how we play on the field. “

Should Charleston win Saturday they will have gone further than any other team in Charleston softball history. 

“One of our goals was to do something that nobody else from Charleston (softball) has done and, hopefully, we can do that,” said Mayhall.

Highland 000 000 0–0-3-3

Charleston 301 001 x–5-10-1

Winning pitcher: Addison Shrader (6-0) 7 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout.

CHARLESTON: Shrader 2-for-4, run; Avery Beals 4-for-4, stolen base, run; Karah Moore sacrifice fly, RBI; Kailyn Wilson 1-for-3, 2 stolen bases, 2 runs; Erin Blair 1-for-3; Maci Mayhall 1-for-3; Brie Tomlinson 1-for-3, double; Olivia Schuette stolen base, run

Losing pitcher: Sophia Donoho (14-3) 6 innings, 10 hits, 5 runs, 1 earned, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts

HIGHLAND: Alexandra Schultz 2-for-3, double; Kelly Fuller 1-for-3