MATTOON, Ill. • Civic Memorial senior pitcher Kayla Kirkpatrick could barely speak Monday afternoon.
The right-hander had just thrown a complete-game two-hitter in a 5-1 win over Mount Zion in the Class 3A Mattoon Super-sectional at the Roundhouse Complex to put the Eagles in the school's first state softball tournament.
Kirkpatrick couldn't hold back the tears.
"Oh my gosh, I don't even know how to explain it," she said, wiping her eyes. "I can't even talk. It's awesome. There's really no words to describe it -- how amazing it is. We've had this goal since the beginning of the year, and I thought it was possible. And we did it. We did it."
What the Eagles (30-5) did was advance to the Class 3A semifinals, where they will face Marengo (31-9) at noon Friday at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria. The winner advances to the state championship contest at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
"First time we're going to state," Kirkpatrick said. "It's an honor to represent our school like this. I think we have the 'Dream Team' to go there. This is our time to go."
Civic was able to go thanks to Kirkpatrick (20-2), who allowed just two hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts from 86 pitches. She also had three hits in four at-bats, with one run batted in.
"She keeps us in the game, and she really is one of the main reasons why we won the game," Eagles coach Mike Eddy said.
Mount Zion had been known for its defense, having committed just 46 errors this season. But the Braves had four errors that led to four unearned runs against Civic Memorial.
Two of the miscues happened in the third, when the Eagles scored twice. The others took place in the fourth, when Civic tallied one run.
In the third, Civic broke open a 1-0 game with three runs. First baseman Alli Hill had one of the big hits when she doubled over the head of centerfielder Sierra Garron for an RBI. Abby Causay replaced Drury, and with two outs Sammi Elliott reached on second baseman Carly Sarff's fielding error. That allowed both Kirkpatrick, who had reached when Garron made a long run to catch her pop fly but dropped it, and Hill to score.
The Eagles added a fifth run in the fourth thanks to errors by first baseman Emily Faught and shortstop Kassie Brown. Brittney Zipprich, the No. 9 hitter, got an infield single to start the inning. Deidre Merli then put down a perfect bunt to Faught, who tried to get a sliding Zipprich at second, but the throw pulled Sarff off the bag.
Georgia Dodson then bunted back to Causay, who threw to third to try to get Zipprich, but Brown dropped the throw. Rachel Keller then hit a fly to center and Zipprich was thrown out at the plate for a double play. However, cleanup hitter Kirkpatrick singled to left, scoring Merli.
The Braves got their lone run in the bottom of the fourth on two throwing errors by catcher Elliott. They also had the bases loaded in the sixth with two outs after a single and two walks, but Kirkpatrick got Maddy Wiley to ground back to her to end the threat.
"You've just got to stay focused out there," Kirkpatrick said. "It is really hard, especially when you walk a couple. I just had to keep my focus really hard, and I got it done."
Mount Zion coach Greg Blakey said "we expect to play good, and we know we have to play good. We don't have a pitcher like Kirkpatrick. We know we've got to play great defense. You've got to give it to them. They made the plays when they had to."
