The St. Vincent-St. Mary softball team's 2023 tournament started with the ninth seed and blossomed into a regional appearance.
The Fighting Irish rolled into the postseason 9-6, looking to upset the apple cart in the Canton Division II District.
What STVM found is that no matter how the chapter begins, the end of the story is what you make it.
“We talk about that all the time,” Irish coach Charlie Schrader said. “We talk about sections, the story of the book, the chapters of the story. We use our first couple of weeks here because we’re not in the league as sort of a preseason to figure out our lineups and things like that.
"Last year, the seniors did a nice job of teaching these kids never to quit, and these kids have sort of taken it into this year, to be honest with you.”
STVM softball's district title planted seeds for a repeat in 2024
What came out of 2023 was a 10-7 win over top-seeded Coventry and the school’s first district title since 2015.
Although the school’s first regional title since 1984 eluded it, the squad learned that it isn’t how the season ends but rather the journey you took to get there.
“Last year, we really came together as a team,” STVM senior center fielder Ella Kim said. “We have that potential to do that same thing again. It was my first year on varsity, so it meant so much that we went on that big of a run to advance through district and win it.”
That team relied on Kate Kujawski and a solid senior class that included Jane Clark, Eleanor Talley and Kylie Stewart.
During the run, it was the underclassmen who did the damage, which is why Schrader, now in his 12th season, is looking toward Sunday’s tournament draw with confidence.
“They believe they can win without that team from last year,” Schrader said. “They expect to do the same this year because last year was a good precursor for that for them. They figured out how to win.
“It was the underclassmen that really stepped up last season. The seniors last year were a big part of our team, don't get me wrong, but the underclassmen got all the big hits and the big outs.”
Seasoned Fighting Irish softball has eyes on another playoff push
Those returners include Avarie Mays, Sydney Shaker, Kaidyn Schrader, Ella Kim, Kennedy Brophy, Brenna Campbell and Alexis Salada.
Schrader came into Wednesday with a 5-2 record, a save, 38 strikeouts and a 2.94 ERA.
Mays was hitting .535 with two home runs, two triples, seven doubles and 19 RBIs to go along with a 1.464 OPS. Kim (.512, 1, 1, 4, 15, 1.253) and Schrader (.371, 2, 1, 4, 11, 1.178) weren’t having a problem seeing the ball either.
As an independent, STVM is always looking to improve with the goal of postseason success in mind, and 2024 isn’t much different.
“Right now, the district final and the championship last season honestly means nothing to me,” Mays said. “It was cool. It was fun to win, but I am ready for more this year. I want to get back there and I want to get further.
“We try not to think too much about it. Yeah, the district final is fun, but right now we're working hard to get there again. When we're in the tournament, it's like nothing matters. It's a new slate.”
Mays wasn’t taking anything away from 2023 with that statement. She was simply pointing out that if you are constantly looking behind you, you’re not aware of what is directly in front of you.
That’s the attitude this Irish team is taking into May, and it’s one STVM hopes will reap some of the same rewards as 12 months ago.
“We're never going to go back down,” Mays said. “We’re a tight-knit group. We’re all very close to each other. We all hang out with each other outside of softball. We love to play teams that are good.
“… It's fun knowing people want to beat us. We just play the same game every time. It doesn't matter the name on the jersey — we play our same game and we just go day by day.”
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
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