Medomak Valley Repeats as Class B State Champions Panthers 7 - Gardiner Tigers 0

The Medomak Valley softball team beat Gardiner 7-0 to win their second straight Class B softball championship on Saturday, June 20 at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.

Junior Sidney Nicholls allowed five hits and four walks and struck out nine Tigers on the way to a complete game shutout in the pitching circle. Freshman Rheanne Simmons banged out three hits to lead the offense.

Medomak stroked 10 hits in all during the game, and made only one error in the field. Gardiner made two.

“Sidney wasn’t perfect today, but she really didn’t need to be,” said head coach Richard Vannah, who locked down his 200th victory as a coach earlier this season. “Sidney’s super sore and was probably at three-quarter throttle today, but she still dominated and was hard to hit.”

The cool and confident Nicholls has been battling nagging injuries since May 18, when she left in the first inning of a 17-16 loss to the Tigers, the only blemish on the Panthers 20-1 record this season.

“Sidney’s a warrior,” said Vannah. “I mean, my god … she struck out more than 50 batters and didn’t give up a run in the playoffs. (Nicholls was) hurt in the first playoff game (against Greeley), then we rested her and she felt really good against Lake Region, throwing at least 70 mph. She throws hard and the ball moves a lot, she’s just so hard to hit.”

During the four playoff games, Nicholls struck out a total of 51 batters while allowing no runs on only seven hits, six walks, and a pair of hit batters.

“What an incredible playoff run (by Nicholls),” said Vannah.

At the outset, it looked as if Gardiner might make the state championship game a competitive one. The Tigers starting pitcher Molly Takatsu ripped a one-out double off Nicholls in the first inning. After a hard line out by Lexi Oullette was gloved for an out by Medomak first baseman Claudia Feeley, Livy Cleary drew one of only four walks allowed by the Medomak ace in the game. Nicholls struck out Karen Munzing to end the threat, and the Tigers would not advance a runner past second base again until the final inning.

The Medomak offense got to work immediately in the bottom half of the first inning. Simmons led off with a single to get things started. Peyton Eaton replaced Simmons at first after she hit a ground ball in the infield that forced Simmons out at second base. Eaton stole second and bolted to cross home plate when senior Arianna Sproul belted a single up the middle.

The steady Panthers manufactured another run in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Kendall Wyman drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a ground out by Grace Havener. McKenna Hertel walked and Simmons hit her second single of the day to bring Wyman around to score. Simmons was thrown out at second base after Wyman scored, to end the inning with Hertel on third base.

The Panthers pounced again in the third inning. Sproul blasted a double to deep left field and was replaced by courtesy runner Caroline Snell. Snell advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a single to left field by senior Kendall Simmons. Feeley ripped a double to left field to put runners on second and third base but Takatsu got Jennika Schumann to pop out. Wyman hit a fly out to end the inning.

The Gardiner offense mustered a hit in each of the fourth and fifth innings but failed to put a significant rally together against Nicholls, who kept a calm demeanor throughout the state championship.

The Panthers offense got rolling in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kendall Simmons reached base via an error, took second on a passed ball, and advanced to third on a Feeley single. Simmons and Feeley scored when Schumann launched a double to left field. Wyman executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Schumann to third base with one out.

Havener walked for the second consecutive time and moved to second base on a wild pitch. Hertel knocked a single to left field that scored both Schumann and Havener to make it 7-0. The Gardiner coaches had seen enough of Rheanne Simmons and rather than have her swing the bat, the Tigers put her on first base with an intentional walk. That may have been a wise move, as the next two Medomak batters were retired to end the rally

Nicholls cruised through the sixth inning, striking out two and allowing a single to left field. Nicholls struck out the first batter of the seventh inning before allowing a walk to Cheyenne Goodman. Sophia Marrone hit a single up the middle to put runners on first and second. Both runners advanced one base on a ground out before Nicholls got the final batter to hit a ground ball to Rheanne Simmons, who tossed the ball to first baseman Feeley to kick off the Panthers celebration.

“At the beginning of the year, we had some big holes to fill in the roster,” said Vannah. “We had a couple kids graduate, and a couple kids that did not return, so we needed freshmen to step up, and they did. One’s a dangerous base runner (Caroline Snell) and the other two (Rheanne Simmons and Hertel) played a lot of innings and have done a lot of hitting. Those girls filled the open spots very well.”

It was not always easy for the young Panthers, but they shined when it counted the most in the playoffs.

“I had a slump at the beginning of the season, but my coaches and teammates kept encouraging me and believed in me,” said shortstop Rheanne Simmons, who racked up nine hits in four playoff games to spark the Panthers as their leadoff hitter. “I found my swing and really hit a groove here towards the end. We were confident all year and just took it one game at a time, and now after working hard together it feels absolutely surreal.”

Although the Panthers will lose four strong starters to graduation (Feeley, Eaton, Kendall Simmons, and Sproul) the future remains bright for the Medomak Valley softball program, as the program will draw recruits from the Medomak Middle School team that won the Busline League championship.

“We have a lot of young players that will learn from this, and I think we’re inspired to try again to achieve a three-peat,” said Rheanne Simmons. “Sidney’s awesome, she’s literally the best pitcher ever.”

Rheanne Simmons was not the only first-year player to perform a key starting role for the Panthers this season.

“Mckenna (Hertel) played for me last summer for the Breeze (travel team), and the kid just took off,” said Vannah. “She hit over .400 and had the third best batting average for us this year. Other teams may have overlooked her because she was at the bottom of our order, but the secret is out now and teams will make it a priority to pitch her a lot tougher next season.”

Vannah took a moment to reflect on the whole season – his 17th at the helm for Medomak – and the past four that his seniors have laid the foundation for.

“Our senior leadership was incredible … They all work so well together,” said Vannah. “We created great memories on spring Florida trips twice with this crew, and I’m going to miss them for sure.”

Vannah was quick to acknowledge that he had a very special team this season.

“I’ll never have another group like this,” said Vannah. “Just really good kids, strong leadership, and everyone focused on softball and practicing hard all the time. Just a crazy good group of girls, and it’ll be hard to repeat that. I’ll miss those four senior girls and I hope they come back to visit.”

Every player in the Medomak batting order had at least one hit or scored a run. Rheanne Simmons (1RBI) hit three singles, Sproul (1RBI) and Feeley (1R) each hit a double and a single; Schumann (1R, 2RBI) a double; and Kendall Simmons (1R, 1RBI) and Hertel (2RBI) added a single each. Eaton (1SB), Havener, Snell, and Wyman each scored one run.

 

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Here are some more photos from the championship game:

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