On Friday, she had two hits and made a sliding, game-ending catch in left field.
On Saturday, she drove the game-winning hit that earned Beecher the Class 2A state title.
Senior outfielder Tayiah Scanlan ended her high school softball career with a weekend straight out of a storybook. Or maybe someone’s vivid imagination.
“If someone had told my little freshman self that when I was a senior I would drive in those runs, I’d have looked at them like they were crazy,” Scanlan said, laughing.
But it’s real.
“It was exciting and electric,” Scanlan said. “When I look back, I am never going to forget this weekend and this team. We just fought with grit the entire time and came out on top.”
The Rockford recruit was the difference-maker in the championship game Saturday as Beecher defeated Carterville 5-2 in 10 innings at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria.
Her biggest moment for the Bobcats (37-2) came with the scored tied 2-2 in the top of the 10th inning.
Alexa Gliva and Abrianne Papas were on base with nobody out when Scanlan drove the ball down the left field line. Both runners scored on the play, while Scanlan circled the bases and made a belly-first slide across home plate.
“In my previous at-bat, coach (Kevin Hayhurst) told me, ‘You’ve got to hit the ball on the ground to the outfield,’” Scanlan said. “I popped that one out. So the next at-bat I was like, ‘OK, we’re still tied. I’ve got to redeem myself.’
“When I made contact, I was thinking all the way around, ‘I’m scoring. I’m scoring.’ It felt so amazing. I had been in a slump, but I knew that my team believed in me and my coach believed in me. I wanted to do that for them.”
Junior pitcher Taylor Norkus retired Carterville in order in the bottom of the 10th to put a seal on the win. Norkus, a Colgate recruit, pitched the final five innings in relief of junior Ava Lorenzatti.
Lorenzatti, a Florida State commit, did more than just pitch the first five innings, however.
The Bobcats trailed 2-0 in the top of the sixth when Lorenzatti gave them new life with a two-run homer to right field. It was Lorenzatti’s team-leading eighth of the season.
“Oh yeah, that felt great,” Lorenzatti said. “Really, the previous at-bat I hit a ball to the warning track off of a change-up. All I could keep thinking was, ‘Oh, if there just was a little more power behind that pitch, just a little extra help.’
“The next at-bat I was thinking, ‘A home run would be great right now. I just need a good pitch.’ It was, and the power was provided.”
Scanlan’s weekend, meanwhile, started with two hits and a huge defensive play in left field during Friday’s 4-2 semifinal victory over Auburn.
The Trojans, trailing 4-0, scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh. They had a runner on base with two outs when a pop fly appeared ready to fall for a bloop single.
Scanlan, however, charged in and made the sliding catch from her knees.
Typical Tayiah, according to Hayhurst.
“She has been making some really good defensive plays the last two weeks of the season and in the playoffs,” Hayhurst said. “In a sectional game, she made an unbelievable catch to start things off and we won 1-0. She has been helping us both on defense and offense.”
Seize the moment? Scanlan seized the whole weekend. And now she’s the toast of the town in Beecher.
“It’s well-deserved,” Lorenzatti said. “Tayiah always works hard at practice. She stays after to get extra swings. And she’s a really good personality to have on the team. She’s a great teammate.
“I was really glad to see her succeed in a big moment.”
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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