Rockridge and Beecher will meet in a rematch of last year’s IHSA 2A softball state championship game in the East Peoria super-sectional at Eastside Center Monday morning.
THE ROAD HERE
Rockridge (30-3-1) has continued its postseason dominance in 2024, winning the program’s eighth consecutive sectional championship over Riverdale Friday, 11-2. The Rockets scored the final 10 runs of the game, after trailing 2-1 through three innings. Rockridge scored three runs in the fourth, four runs in the fifth, and three more runs in the sixth to turn a tight game in the middle innings into a blowout win. The Rockets clubbed 16 hits, with five players having multi-hit games. Charley Perkins drove in five runs, while Taylor Dieterich and Kendra Lewis each had three RBI in the sectional title win. Rockridge also has postseason wins over Alleman, 10-0, Brimfield-Elmwood, 2-0, and IVC, 5-0.
In the pitchers circle, Lewis has allowed two runs in 26 innings to start the 2024 playoffs. In 24 career IHSA postseason appearances, Lewis is 24-0 with a 1.12 ERA. This season, she sports a 21-3 record, a 0.69 ERA, and 234 strikeouts, which has her career strikeout total up to 801. For her career, Lewis is 84-3 with a 0.96 ERA. In last year’s 7-1 state championship win over Beecher, Lewis allowed one run on six hits in seven innings with five strikeouts.
It will be the same pitching match-up in the 2024 meeting between the Rockets and the Bobcats, as Beecher (32-1) sophomore pitcher Ava Lorenzatti has put together another dominant season. In 21 appearances this year, she is 19-1 with a 0.81 ERA. She has struck out 261 batters in 129 innings, while allowing just 56 hits. Overall, she is 39-4 with a 0.79 ERA in the first two years of her high school career. Last year, Rockridge got to Lorenzatti in the state title game, scoring seven runs in six innings off of her.
The Bobcats have outscored their opponents this season 304-34, an average of 9.2-1.0 runs per game. The top three hitters in the Beecher lineup are sophomores – Elena Kvasnicka (.582 batting average), Lorenzatti (.533 with a team-high 7 home runs), and Makenzie Johnson (.495). Beecher’s only loss this season came to Lincoln-Way Central on April 15, 5-1.
Beecher’s postseason wins this year are against Reed-Custer, 7-0, Joliet Catholic in the regional championship, 2-0, Herscher, 6-3, and Seneca in the sectional championship, 5-4.
Beecher is coached by Illinois Softball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Kevin Hayhurst, who picked up his 600th career win earlier this season. In 22 years as the head coach of the Bobcats, he has a record of 623-107-2 and four state titles.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Rockridge and Beecher have combined to win the last six IHSA 2A softball state championships. Beecher took the title in 2017 and 2019. In that stretch, Rockridge has won state championships in 2018, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Rockridge and Beecher have played four times in the postseason. All of those games took place at the State Finals. In 2005, the Rockets beat the Bobcats, 3-1, in the state quarterfinals. In 2019, Rockridge topped Beecher, 5-2, in the state championship game. The next year, the Bobcats knocked off the Rockets in the state semifinals, 5-4. Rockridge beat Beecher in last year’s state championship game, 7-1.
POSTSEASON HISTORY
Rockridge
- 26 straight postseason wins
- 9 straight regional championships
- 17 regional championships in program history
- 8 straight sectional championships
- 14 sectional championships in program history
- 8th straight super-sectional appearance
- 13th super-sectional appearance in program history
- 10 super-sectional championships in program history (2004-07, 2016, 2018-23)
- 10-2 all-time in super-sectional games
- 14th “Elite Eight” appearance
- 5 straight state tournament appearances
- 11 state tournament appearances in program history
- 5 state championships in program history (2005, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Beecher
- back-to-back regional championships
- 18 regional championships in program history
- back-to-back sectional championships
- 11 sectional championships in program history
- back-to-back super-sectional appearances
- 11th super-sectional appearance in program history
- 8 super-sectional championships in program history (2004-05, 2007, 2014, 2017-19, 2023)
- 8-2 all-time in super-sectional games
- 9th “Elite Eight” appearance
- 8 state tournament appearances in program history
- 4 state championships in program history (2004, 2007, 2017, 2019)
The winner of Monday’s super-sectional game advances to Friday’s state semifinals at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria to play either Carterville or Newton.
First pitch between Rockridge and Beecher is scheduled for 11 a.m., Monday. Pregame coverage on 102.3 FM, wrmj.com, and the WRMJ app will begin at 10:30 a.m.