Fremd's Brottman sparkles, but Loyola's Miller fires perfect game
EAST PEORIA - Lena Brottman deserved a better ending.
Fremd's junior pitcher matched Loyola fireballer Devin Miller for seven innings, but a pair of throwing errors in the eighth gave the Ramblers a 1-0 win in Friday's Class 4A state semifinals at East Peoria's Eastside Centre.
On the heels of Edwardsville pitcher Lauren Francis' no-hitter of Naperville Central in the first 4A semifinal, Miller showed why she may be the best pitcher in Illinois.
The Illinois-Chicago recruit, who has been clocked at 68 mph on the radar gun, struck out nine of the first 10 batters she faced. She finished with 15 strikeouts and a perfect game.
The 4A championship between Loyola (36-2) and Edwardsville (36-4) will be a rematch of an April 25 game won by the Ramblers 2-1 in eight innings in international rules. It was the Tigers' last loss.
Fremd (32-5) will play Naperville Central (31-7) at 4:30 p.m. today in the third-place game. The Vikings' best finish at state softball was fourth in 2000.
"We want the third-place trophy, no question," Weaver said. "We came here to win a state championship. That's off the table now, but we want to win the game (today)."
Brottman (20-4) struck out 11, stranding 4 Loyola runners in scoring position to keep the game scoreless.
A Loyola leadoff double in the sixth went for naught on back-to-back Brottman strikeouts.
"Let's talk about how she pitched - I thought she pitched lights-out," Fremd coach Jim Weaver said. "We have a lot of respect for Loyola's lineup and we got into some situations that she, by herself, got us out of. She got big strikeout after big strikeout. The game wouldn't have even been where it was without her in the circle."
Molly Warner reached on an error for Loyola to lead off the eighth.
Warner moved to second on a Teresa Aguilar sacrifice, and Brottman came back to strike out cleanup hitter Jenny Edwards for the second out.
Miller hit a comebacker to the mound but an error on the play allowed Warner to get home from second base.
"Eventually, and I firmly believe this, you put enough pressure on a team they're going to crack," Loyola coach Marty Jennings said. "We put pressure on them for seven innings and we finally got a break."
It was Miller's third perfect game of the season among her seven no-hitters.
"Talk about a stud, huh?" Jennings said. "After the first game I looked at the scoreboard and saw the girl threw the no-hitter and I thought 'You know, I think our girl's going to do something special right after that.' It kind of motivates her. She wants to be known as the best. I tell you what, she's pretty darn good."
Fremd senior first baseman Jessica Tackett had the hardest-hit ball off Miller, but her bullet to third was snagged by Loyola's Dana Trotta leading off the fifth.
"We knew what to expect, she didn't do anything that we didn't practice or prepare for," said Weaver, whose team's 32 wins are a school record. "But you can only turn your pitching machine up so fast. You can turn it up to 65, but then it starts headhunting. You can simulate the speed, but can't simulate the speed and the movement."