Ridgewood (31-5-1) won a softball state championship for the first time ever by beating Illini Bluffs (25-2) in the IHSA 1A state title game, 3-1, at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria Saturday.
Illini Bluffs took a 1-0 lead two pitches into the game on a lead-off home run from Sara Finn. After that, Ridgewood starting pitcher Mya Brown allowed just one more hit the rest of the game.
The Spartans scored twice in the bottom of the third when Kerrigan Lewis crossed the plate on a passed ball and Brown drove in a run by reaching on an error to go ahead, 2-1. Ridgewood added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out pinch hit RBI single by Brynlee Wirt.
Brown (23-3) struck out the side in the seventh to clinch the state championship. She took the win, giving up one run on two hits in seven innings with 13 strikeouts.
Highlights from WRMJ’s broadcast
Ridgewood head coach Renae Leander