JUDA - Amber Ramos won the Six Rivers East Pitcher of the Year in 2010 and finished 2011 as co-conference player of the year with Barneveld's Taylor Ruchti. On Thursday, in a WIAA Division 4 regional final, Ruchti was injured and couldn't play. Ramos, however, was healthy - and dominated.
Juda's junior hurler tossed a no-hitter, struck out 11 batters and laced the game-deciding, 2-run home run as the Panthers repeated as regional champions.
"I knew I had to stay calm and not let things get overwhelming," Ramos said. "I just had to do my thing."
Ramos, who has 244 strikeouts this season to just 19 walks, put Barneveld's leadoff hitter on via base on balls. McKenzie Sporle stole second and third and scored on a groundout by Kristen Udelhofen.
But Juda (17-4) found a way to answer.
Katlyn DeVoe opened the bottom half of the inning with a walk and moved to second on a bunt by Aly Pierce. C.J. Dunwiddie then hit a 2-out single to tie the game.
"At some point we have to come up with a two-out hit, and that's the name of the game," Juda head coach Bill Davis said.
The Panthers took the lead for good in the third. DeVoe walked to lead off the inning again, and with one out, Ramos sent a low and inside pitch for a no-doubt-about-it homer to left.
"It was really inside, and low, and that's good for me," Ramos said. "I thought I had a pop-up, though. I thought I was going to be out so I was nervous. But, it turned out well."
DeVoe walked in three of her four plate appearances against Tory Schave.
"Sometimes it's frustrating because you just want to go up there and hit the ball, crush it. But a walk is just as good as a hit because you're on base," said DeVoe, who added that she knew Ramos' home run was gone off the bat. "(Coach) told me to stay at third, but I was like, 'That's gone. It's out of here!'"
On the hill, Ramos was nearly as dominant. At one point, she struck out six straight hitters and the only other run the Eagles (18-6) scored came in the fourth.
Ramos walked Barneveld's Alexis Brown, who advanced to second on a passed ball. A groundout moved the runner to third, and Taylor Bowser laid down a one-out suicide squeeze. Instead of getting the second out of the inning at first, Ramos flipped the ball late to home plate, prompting a reminder from the coaching staff about the importance of outs and not allowing a big inning.
Ramos settled down and retired the final 11 batters to send her team back to sectionals.
"Barneveld came ready to play, and we expected that," Davis said. "They are a really well- coached team and do the fundamentals well. You know the third time would be a tough one. I thought Amber did a great job keeping them off balance, and fielded her position really well."
Ramos made five other defensive plays in the field.
A year ago, Juda lost to Racine Lutheran, 6-0. Lutheran knocked off top-seeded Burlington Catholic Central (13-7) to reach sectionals and went on to take second at state. This year, the Panthers will get another shot at Racine (15-8), which again knocked off the higher-seeded Burlington squad.
"It's amazing for the program," said Davis, who took over a winless club three years ago and has won three conference titles since. "Where we were a couple of years ago with not winning a game, to winning conference championships - we've come a long ways. We're playing the game better.
"(At sectionals) you have to relax when you are up there batting, and you have to know that the pitching is only going to get better. We know that in our sectional we will see girls throwing close to 60 miles per hour, which we've kind of been preparing for up to this point. We need to just rely on our abilities and our tools. That's the key."
If the players have learned anything from a year ago, it's to be patient, but strike while the iron is hot.
"Now we know what to expect. We have to be able to face faster pitchers," Ramos said. "I feel we're very ready."
This is the last year Juda will be by itself in softball. Next year the Panthers will co-op with Albany. For DeVoe, that just adds fuel to the fire to get to state now.
"We want to make a statement for our school and everything. It's really fun to just come out here and play ball, it's our softball family," DeVoe said.
Juda's junior hurler tossed a no-hitter, struck out 11 batters and laced the game-deciding, 2-run home run as the Panthers repeated as regional champions.
"I knew I had to stay calm and not let things get overwhelming," Ramos said. "I just had to do my thing."
Ramos, who has 244 strikeouts this season to just 19 walks, put Barneveld's leadoff hitter on via base on balls. McKenzie Sporle stole second and third and scored on a groundout by Kristen Udelhofen.
But Juda (17-4) found a way to answer.
Katlyn DeVoe opened the bottom half of the inning with a walk and moved to second on a bunt by Aly Pierce. C.J. Dunwiddie then hit a 2-out single to tie the game.
"At some point we have to come up with a two-out hit, and that's the name of the game," Juda head coach Bill Davis said.
The Panthers took the lead for good in the third. DeVoe walked to lead off the inning again, and with one out, Ramos sent a low and inside pitch for a no-doubt-about-it homer to left.
"It was really inside, and low, and that's good for me," Ramos said. "I thought I had a pop-up, though. I thought I was going to be out so I was nervous. But, it turned out well."
DeVoe walked in three of her four plate appearances against Tory Schave.
"Sometimes it's frustrating because you just want to go up there and hit the ball, crush it. But a walk is just as good as a hit because you're on base," said DeVoe, who added that she knew Ramos' home run was gone off the bat. "(Coach) told me to stay at third, but I was like, 'That's gone. It's out of here!'"
On the hill, Ramos was nearly as dominant. At one point, she struck out six straight hitters and the only other run the Eagles (18-6) scored came in the fourth.
Ramos walked Barneveld's Alexis Brown, who advanced to second on a passed ball. A groundout moved the runner to third, and Taylor Bowser laid down a one-out suicide squeeze. Instead of getting the second out of the inning at first, Ramos flipped the ball late to home plate, prompting a reminder from the coaching staff about the importance of outs and not allowing a big inning.
Ramos settled down and retired the final 11 batters to send her team back to sectionals.
"Barneveld came ready to play, and we expected that," Davis said. "They are a really well- coached team and do the fundamentals well. You know the third time would be a tough one. I thought Amber did a great job keeping them off balance, and fielded her position really well."
Ramos made five other defensive plays in the field.
A year ago, Juda lost to Racine Lutheran, 6-0. Lutheran knocked off top-seeded Burlington Catholic Central (13-7) to reach sectionals and went on to take second at state. This year, the Panthers will get another shot at Racine (15-8), which again knocked off the higher-seeded Burlington squad.
"It's amazing for the program," said Davis, who took over a winless club three years ago and has won three conference titles since. "Where we were a couple of years ago with not winning a game, to winning conference championships - we've come a long ways. We're playing the game better.
"(At sectionals) you have to relax when you are up there batting, and you have to know that the pitching is only going to get better. We know that in our sectional we will see girls throwing close to 60 miles per hour, which we've kind of been preparing for up to this point. We need to just rely on our abilities and our tools. That's the key."
If the players have learned anything from a year ago, it's to be patient, but strike while the iron is hot.
"Now we know what to expect. We have to be able to face faster pitchers," Ramos said. "I feel we're very ready."
This is the last year Juda will be by itself in softball. Next year the Panthers will co-op with Albany. For DeVoe, that just adds fuel to the fire to get to state now.
"We want to make a statement for our school and everything. It's really fun to just come out here and play ball, it's our softball family," DeVoe said.
