PEORIA — Trusting your instinct can take you a long way.
That’s how it worked out for senior second baseman Aoibhe Landers when it came time to choosing a high school, specifically St. Laurence.
Actually, she trusted herself — and best friend Jordan Ogean.
“A lot of our friends we played softball with when we were younger went to Marist and some of the bigger schools,” Landers said. “Me and Jordan just decided to do something different.
“We liked what coach Teagan (Walsh) had at St. Laurence and we trusted her a lot. But we also had to put a lot of belief in ourselves and work hard.”
Saturday, they stood proud after the Vikings finished their season in fourth place at state. The trophy they took home was the first for any girls team in school history.
It certainly made things a lot less painful during a 12-0 loss in five innings to Prairie Ridge in the Class 3A third-place game at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.
“I’m just proud of our team for never giving up this season,” Landers said. “I feel a lot of people doubted us, especially in the middle of the season when we had kind of a rough patch.
“But we came out and did the best we could.”
Kayla Howard came through with a pair of hits for St. Laurence (23-9) in the setback against Prairie Ridge (29-2-1). Ogean added a single for the Vikings.
Landers, meanwhile, wrapped up her softball career with a superb senior season in which she batted .388 with seven doubles, one home run and 36 RBIs.
Her stats as a junior were similar, but some fine-tuning made her even more effective.
“She’s just that kid who as a junior took the critiques and worked on them in the offseason,” Walsh said of Landers. “She just bought in. She’s that kid who is hitting a thousand balls that we have to tell her, ‘OK, you’ve done enough swings. Now take a break.’
“Aoibhe has always been an above-and-beyond kid. She doesn’t do complacency. She wants to one up herself every day. She’s her biggest competitor, making herself better and making everyone around her better.”
And feeling good about themselves.
“I think Aoibhe sets a good tone for everybody,” Ogean said. “There is an in-between of having fun but also playing hard.
“If anyone needs to make an adjustment, she’ll put it out there in a friendly way. And everyone listens to her because everyone looks up to her. So it works.”
Now. The name. It’s Aoibhe. It gets noticed. Yes, it’s unusual around these parts. But it’s a common name in Ireland, where both of her parents grew up.
Not many newbies at school would guess correctly that Aoibhe is pronounced Ava. For herself, Ogean knew how to say it before she even tried to spell it.
“We were in first grade, so I basically didn’t know how to read,” Ogean said, laughing. “I didn’t know if it was spelled weirdly or not. I think the hardest part was understanding her dad. He has a heavier accent.”
There’s also another neat story behind Aoibhe’s name.
“Funny enough, when I was born, I was Grace for one day,” Landers said. “But then they changed it to Aoibhe to give me a harder name.”
It’s now a part of St. Laurence softball history.
“After we won in the supersectional, I was so relieved,” Landers said. “I remember the next day, Jordan and I got into the car for practice and we were like, ‘This doesn’t even feel real.’
“We worked so hard for this all season. It feels good.”
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
