VERONA - Most people would have wished they were golfing and allowed a mulligan after allowing 12 runs in the first inning of a WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal game.
But then, Monticello senior MacKenzie Hilliard isn't most people.
The Ponies' senior gushed about the team she adored and led to sectionals for the first time in the program's history, even though Burlington Catholic Central took a 15-2 decision in five innings Saturday afternoon.
"It's the best season I've ever had and I've never had a better group of girls," Hilliard said. "Everybody was saying, 'Don't cry.' I'm not crying. I didn't cry at graduation, I wasn't gonna cry here."
"We weren't supposed to be here so we were more excited than the other team. As a senior, I can't ask for anything else."
After gutting out a nightmarish first inning that saw eight Hilltoppers cross before the first out was recorded, Ponies skipper Duane Garrison wiped his players' mental slate.
"I told them just to start a new game," Garrison said. "After the game, I told them they lost 3-2. We scored a couple runs on them and that's more than their other opponents did."
And there was nothing cheap about the two runs Monticello plated in its last inning of the season, the fifth.
No. 6 hitter Brienna Voegeli, a senior, coaxed a full-count walk before sophomore shortstop Sadi Hilliard hit a looping double the painted the right-field line.
Freshman Taylor Pfeuti then rapped a ball to second base that scored Voegeli the last time she'd run the bases as a Pony.
Before Olivia Doyle could finish working her walk, Hilliard dashed home on a wild pitch and barely beat the tag with a head-first slide.
Monticello junior starter Mary Hershberger set up a potential two-out rally in the top of the fourth when she got into a fly ball to dead center that skipped off the warning track for a double.
"I was kind of upset that it didn't go over the fence," Hershberger said with a laugh.
Hershberger set the Hilltoppers down 1-2-3 in the second and third innings and only walked one batter but plunked two after the first.
"We didn't let up, necessarily, they just recovered and you have to tip your hat to Monticello," Central coach Bill Greskiw said.
Hershberger's senior battery mate was irreplaceable, gunning down three potential base stealers.
"It's my favorite part of the game," MacKenzie Hilliard said. "I love it when girls try running on me. When I see a girl running, I'm like, 'Oh yeah! It's my turn!'"
The staple of Ponies athletics also kept her first-year ace cool before the first finally ended.
"I said, 'Stop making me work so hard back there, you're making me sweat,'" Hilliard said, citing Mary's love of laughter.
The Hilltoppers ran up the score in the first without hitting the ball as hard as Tanya Kammes did in the game's first at-bat for Monticello.
The senior drilled the second pitch she saw from the flamethrowing Michelle Smith, but it was an at 'em ball to centerfielder Kelli Smith.
"I was hoping that would instill confidence in the other batters; she hit it right on the nose," Garrison said.
But the next two Ponies went quietly before Central scored eight runs before the first out was recorded in the bottom half and altogether plated 12 on just four hits while four errors were committed and Hershberger lost six batters to hard-fought walks.
"Everything that could have gone wrong in an inning went wrong," Garrison said.
As the Ponies gathered around their laboring ace, the tall Hershberger kicked viciously at the pitching plate. As Garrison had warned before the game, the Field of Dreams surface is one of the hardest around.
"I push off the plate and with it being flat like that, I just could not push off at all," Hershberger said. "The ground is really super-hard, I was kicking it and trying to do anything I could."
"After the first inning, I told her, 'Now we have fun.' And she did," Garrison said. I'm proud of her."
"Nobody expected us to get this far," Hershberger said.
And Saturday's beginnings weren't the only inauspicious ones.
"The beginning of the season was a little bit iffy, but we came together," Hershberger said. "It's been a great season."
But then, Monticello senior MacKenzie Hilliard isn't most people.
The Ponies' senior gushed about the team she adored and led to sectionals for the first time in the program's history, even though Burlington Catholic Central took a 15-2 decision in five innings Saturday afternoon.
"It's the best season I've ever had and I've never had a better group of girls," Hilliard said. "Everybody was saying, 'Don't cry.' I'm not crying. I didn't cry at graduation, I wasn't gonna cry here."
"We weren't supposed to be here so we were more excited than the other team. As a senior, I can't ask for anything else."
After gutting out a nightmarish first inning that saw eight Hilltoppers cross before the first out was recorded, Ponies skipper Duane Garrison wiped his players' mental slate.
"I told them just to start a new game," Garrison said. "After the game, I told them they lost 3-2. We scored a couple runs on them and that's more than their other opponents did."
And there was nothing cheap about the two runs Monticello plated in its last inning of the season, the fifth.
No. 6 hitter Brienna Voegeli, a senior, coaxed a full-count walk before sophomore shortstop Sadi Hilliard hit a looping double the painted the right-field line.
Freshman Taylor Pfeuti then rapped a ball to second base that scored Voegeli the last time she'd run the bases as a Pony.
Before Olivia Doyle could finish working her walk, Hilliard dashed home on a wild pitch and barely beat the tag with a head-first slide.
Monticello junior starter Mary Hershberger set up a potential two-out rally in the top of the fourth when she got into a fly ball to dead center that skipped off the warning track for a double.
"I was kind of upset that it didn't go over the fence," Hershberger said with a laugh.
Hershberger set the Hilltoppers down 1-2-3 in the second and third innings and only walked one batter but plunked two after the first.
"We didn't let up, necessarily, they just recovered and you have to tip your hat to Monticello," Central coach Bill Greskiw said.
Hershberger's senior battery mate was irreplaceable, gunning down three potential base stealers.
"It's my favorite part of the game," MacKenzie Hilliard said. "I love it when girls try running on me. When I see a girl running, I'm like, 'Oh yeah! It's my turn!'"
The staple of Ponies athletics also kept her first-year ace cool before the first finally ended.
"I said, 'Stop making me work so hard back there, you're making me sweat,'" Hilliard said, citing Mary's love of laughter.
The Hilltoppers ran up the score in the first without hitting the ball as hard as Tanya Kammes did in the game's first at-bat for Monticello.
The senior drilled the second pitch she saw from the flamethrowing Michelle Smith, but it was an at 'em ball to centerfielder Kelli Smith.
"I was hoping that would instill confidence in the other batters; she hit it right on the nose," Garrison said.
But the next two Ponies went quietly before Central scored eight runs before the first out was recorded in the bottom half and altogether plated 12 on just four hits while four errors were committed and Hershberger lost six batters to hard-fought walks.
"Everything that could have gone wrong in an inning went wrong," Garrison said.
As the Ponies gathered around their laboring ace, the tall Hershberger kicked viciously at the pitching plate. As Garrison had warned before the game, the Field of Dreams surface is one of the hardest around.
"I push off the plate and with it being flat like that, I just could not push off at all," Hershberger said. "The ground is really super-hard, I was kicking it and trying to do anything I could."
"After the first inning, I told her, 'Now we have fun.' And she did," Garrison said. I'm proud of her."
"Nobody expected us to get this far," Hershberger said.
And Saturday's beginnings weren't the only inauspicious ones.
"The beginning of the season was a little bit iffy, but we came together," Hershberger said. "It's been a great season."
