Beecher uses 4-run 4th to topple Auburn, advance to state championship

PEORIA – Over the past two-plus decades, Beecher’s softball program has used a similar formula to achieve success – put pressure on the opposing defense with efficient bunting, baserunning and clutch hitting to scratch together just enough runs for a stout pitching and defensive performance. And in Friday’s IHSA Class 2A State semifinal matchup against Auburn, that’s exactly what the Bobcats did.

Beecher scored all four of its runs in the top of the fourth inning, giving starting pitcher Ava Lorenzatti and the near-perfect defense behind her enough support for a 4-2 Bobcats victory at the Louisville Slugger Complex in Peoria, where they’ll return at 4:30 p.m. Saturday to face fellow one-seed Carterville for the state championship.

Matched up against Auburn ace Meena Taylor, who entered Friday’s game with four shutouts in five postseason games, Lorenzatti and the Bobcats knew offense would be at a premium Friday. And even after getting four runs of support just before the game reached the halfway point, Lorenzatti knew she and her teammates couldn’t let up until the final out was recorded.

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Beecher's Ava Lorenzatti throws a pitch during the Class 2A State semifinals against Auburn Friday, June 6, 2025 at the Lousiville Slugger Complex in Peoria. (Mason Schweizer)

“They’re a very respectable team,“ Lorenzatti said. ”Knowing they’re capable of coming back or scoring runs and that they came this far, we had to treat them just the same. We had to play like it was a 0-0 ballgame and stay playing aggressive. For me personally, it’s just staying with the same mindset through the whole game, whether we’re up or down.”

The Bobcats never were down Friday, as they broke the ice with a fourth inning that was the textbook definition of Beecher softball. A Lorenzatti double and Elena Kvasnicka single to open the frame put runners on the corners for Allie Johnson, who fought off five foul balls as part of an eight-pitch at-bat that resulted in an RBI single to center and the first run of the game.

A one-out error in the outfield plated another Beecher run before Scanlan legged out a two-out infield single to short to make it 3-0 and keep the inning alive for the fourth run that came on a double steal, the exact type of softball the Bobcats have played since head coach Kevin Hayhurst took over 23 years ago.

“I think [Hayhurst] was really happy,” Kvasnicka said. “We got runners on base, we were taking the extra bases, we were just putting the ball in spots where the team wasn’t. Everyone was going up to battle.”

As Lorenzatti, a Florida State commit, cruised along, that 4-0 score looked like it would stick throughout until the Trojans made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh. After the frame began with an Addison Wheatley groundout, the lone Beecher error of the game and a Lorenzatti walk put a pair on with one out.

Giada Sinclair’s RBI single got the Trojans on the board and brought in arguably the Bobcats’ postseason hero up to this point, Colgate commit Taylor Norkus, who surrendered an RBI single to Jenna Arenz. But after Sinclair was tagged out following an aggressive turn around second base, Piper Taylor stepped to the dish as the tying run with two outs. She offered a blooper to left field, where Scanlan’s sliding catch preserved the victory.

While the Trojans felt some momentum shifting their way in the seventh, Kvasnicka felt confident from her spot at second base when Norkus, who one-hit Seneca in the sectional championship and hit the walk-off single after four-plus relief innings of Monday’s 4-3 10-inning super-sectional win over Brimfield, was summoned from the bullpen.

“It’s just been a big relief,” Kvasnicka said of the pitching combo of Lorenzatti and Norkus. “Most people can’t touch [Norkus’] changeup, so it really helps, especially the difference between Ava’s fastball and Taylor’s changeup.”

The Bobcats are back in the championship game for the first time since 2023, when seven of the nine starters from Friday’s game were all key players as freshmen and sophomores. They’re thrilled to have another opportunity for a first-place finish, but won’t be totally satisfied until they can secure it Saturday.

“It’s definitely super exciting for us, but at the same time now we just want to win it all,” Lorenzatti said. “We’ve come this far, so, hey, that would be cool. We might as well win if we came all this way.”

Hayhurst, who will look to lead the program to their fifth state title Saturday, knows that there won’t be a tougher game all season than Saturday. But he also knows that the 2025 Bobcats have what his four championship teams have.

“They’re just like the other groups we’ve had, they don’t play one bad game,” Hayhurst said. “You can’t have one bad inning; the playoffs are special and nobody wants to go home, so they’re bringing their best each game. I appreciate it because I know how difficult it really is.”