Taylor Norkus’ 10th-inning walk-off single sends Beecher back to state

EAST PEORIA – In Monday’s IHSA Class 2A East Peoria Supersectional against Brimfield, Beecher junior Taylor Norkus stepped into the batter’s box for a scenario every softball player dreams of.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning of a 3-all tie, Norkus made her dream a reality with a walk-off line drive single to center that scored Carmela Irwin to send the Bobcats to the state finals for the eighth time in program history.

“The game needed to end, and I wanted to do it for my team,” Norkus said. “Bases loaded, two outs, something had to happen. I was looking for one pitch, and it was there.”

After falling to Rockridge, who was eliminated by Sherrard in the regional finals this spring, in the 2023 Class 2A championship game and last year’s supers, the Bobcats haven’t been shy this season about getting back to state this spring. And when she saw the ball leave Norkus’ bat, senior shortstop Ava Olson immediately knew that’s where the Bobcats would be headed next.

“The second I saw it off the bat and in the air, but not too far in the air, I was like oh my goodness, we get a redo at state,” Olson said. “It’s our revenge tour, the job’s not finished, and Taylor secured that for us this year.”

Not only did Norkus secure that with her winning hit, but also by dazzling in the circle. After throwing a one-hitter in Friday’s sectional title win over Seneca, Norkus worked out of the bullpen Monday, relieving the other half of Beecher’s two-headed pitching monster, fellow junior Ava Lorenzatti.

After Lorenzatti’s own RBI double scored Olson, and then scoring on Makenzie Johnson’s RBI double for a two-run first, Liliana Irwin scored on an error in the bottom of the second to give Beecher an early 3-0 lead. That lead began looking insurmountable as Lorenzatti cruised through the first five innings, not allowing a hit until the fourth.

But in the top of the sixth, the Indians scored runs on three straight at-bats to knot the game – Reese Legaspi’s single, Layla Hersemann’s sacrifice fly and Brooke Allen’s double – the latter of which prompted Norkus into the circle. After a walk, strikeout and error loaded the bases with two outs, Norkus got out of the sixth with a pop up and became the pitcher battling against Brimfield’s Sawyer Drury, who had long since settled in after Beecher’s early attack.

The two pitchers exchanged goose eggs on the scoreboard as the game finished regulation and worked its way into its third extra inning. After Drury quickly recorded a pair of outs on three pitches in the bottom of the 10th, Allie Johnson and Elena Kvasnicka singled to bring up Makenzie Johnson, who had struggled to read Drury’s changeup since her first-inning double.

On an 0-2 count after two swinging strikes, Johnson surprised everyone, including Beecher head coach Kevin Hayhurst, when she called her own play and laid down an unprompted, perfectly executed bunt single to load the bases for Norkus.

“My past three at bats, I struck out, grounded out then struck out again, all on changeups,” Makenzie Johnson said. “I had a feeling in the back of my mind she’d throw it again, and those first two swings weren’t my best. I know that, and so I knew I had to just come through.”

And on the first pitch of the next at-bat, Norkus delivered. The captain of this year’s team, Olson was the one tasked with keeping the team’s spirits up after losing their lead in the sixth, reminding the Bobcats that with Norkus in the circle, they still had the upper hand. Ironically, it was Norkus’ efforts at the plate that finished the game.

“I had no doubt in my mind Taylor was gonna bounce right back and hold us,” Olson said. “Then to get a walk off with two outs, I’m very proud of her.”

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The Beecher softball team celebrates with the IHSA Class 2A East Peoria Super-Sectional plaque after a 4-3 win in 10 innings over Brimfield Monday, June 2, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)

Norkus threw 4 ⅔ shutout innings, striking out eight and surrendering four hits. Lorenzatti also allowed four hits, surrendering three earned runs and striking out six in 5 ⅓ innings. Kvasnicka and Makenzie Johnson had a pair of hits apiece.

Next up for the Bobcats is the Class 2A state semifinals against Auburn in a battle of No. 1 sectional seeds at Peoria’s Louisville Slugger Complex at 5:30 p.m. Friday. While they’ve all won state titles in junior high, none of the current Bobcats have hoisted an high school championship trophy, something they’re looking to change this weekend.

“I’ve grown up in Beecher, grown up through rec ball, been through junior high, where we won those state championships, and now it’s a surreal moment knowing these are my last few years here, and I have to make the most of it,” Johnson said. “Just very emotional because I’m insanely excited and we’ve worked so hard.”