Harvard’s Eichholz sisters help deny Richmond-Burton KRC title

RICHMOND – “Super Fan Steve” brought the party props.

Only Richmond-Burton‘s softball team didn’t do the celebrating, as expected.

Instead, Harvard pulled off a 1-0 upset in nine innings Wednesday, preventing R-B from winning the Kishwaukee River Conference championship and allowing idle Marengo capture the crown. The Hornets then donned Mardi Gras-style plastic leis.

“Our gold medal for the day,” Harvard senior center fielder Tallulah Eichholz said.

It was a good thing for Harvard that “Super Fan Steve,” as Hornets coach Becky Edinger calls him, or “Mr. Stay Loose Guy,” as Eichholz calls him, made the drive to Richmond to cheer on his favorite school.

“He brings us luck,” said Eichholz, who scored the game’s only run.

Truth is, Harvard (14-11, 9-5) didn’t need much luck in beating R-B (20-9-1, 10-4). Not with the way that Eichholz’s kid sister, 5-foot-10 freshman Leona Eichholz, was pitching.

The hard-throwing righty matched Rockets fireballer Hailey Holtz almost pitch for pitch in a game that saw the two teams combine for two hits (one for each side) and strike out a combined 34 times.

Leona Eichholz struck out 15 and walked one. Holtz whiffed 19 and walked three.

The only hit Leona Eichholz allowed was a two-out bunt single to Gracie Johnson in the second inning. R-B put the winning run on third base in the eighth inning thanks to an error, stolen base and tag-up, but Ellie Smith was stranded when Eichholz retired the hard-hitting Holtz on a ground ball back to the circle.

“I had a really good defense behind my back, cheering me on every pitch,” Leona Eichholz said. “They were just there for me.”

When the teams met April 10, on what R-B coach Tylar Stanton remembers as a cold, windy and miserable day, the Rockets won 9-2. They touched Eichholz, who threw three innings in relief of her big sister, for seven runs (four earned).

“She’s a freshman getting into the groove of things, and she was on one today,” Stanton said of Leona Eichholz. “We have a recipe of put the ball in play and good things happen. She was solid. The ball didn’t drop our way a couple of times, and they made the plays when they had to. Kudos to her. I’m not overly excited to see her for the next three years.”

Big sister couldn’t have been prouder.

“She’s amazing,” Tallulah Eichholz said of her not-so-little sister, who’s four inches taller than her. “She’s so humble, and she works. She’s a workaholic pretty much. She can grind.”

Leona Eichholz leads the Hornets in innings pitched but has shared duties with her sister, Kara Knop and Nayeli Sanchez.

“I think that was probably her best game,” Edinger said of Leona Eichholz. “She was hitting all of her spots, and she was so calm. That’s one of the things I love about her. Not all freshmen can come in and be that calm in those situations.”

Tallulah Eichholz was one of the few Hornets who made any contact at all against the Iowa State-bound Holtz. Eichholz broke up Holtz’s no-hitter when she led off the ninth by power-slapping an opposite-field, line-drive single to left.

“I saw my defense and where they were moving,” said Eichholz, who struck out swinging in the first, walked and stole second in the third and flew out to left field in the sixth. “I found a gap and got it started for us.”

Manhatyn Brincks then put down a sacrifice bunt. Holtz picked up the ball but threw high to first base. The ball caromed off the glove of second baseman Johnson and into foul territory down the line, allowing Eichholz to speed around the bases and score because of the throwing error charged to Holtz.

Brincks was stranded at third, but Leona Eichholz set the Rockets down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

“I’m just really excited to celebrate with my team,” she said.