Heading into Saturday’s Class 4A state championship game, Roncalli softball coach David Lauck talked about how confident he was that all nine of the hitters in his lineup were capable of rising to the occasion on any given night.
In the biggest game of the season, it was Ally Walesky’s turn.
Batting in the No. 9 spot, the junior catcher slugged a pair of home runs, giving pitcher Keagan Rothrock all of the cushion she needed in the Royals’ 4-1 victory over third-ranked Lake Central at Center Grove.
The win gave Roncalli (31-2) its fourth state title in softball and its first in any sport since adopting its new nickname in January.
“She came up clutch,” Lauck said of Walesky. “She’s worked hard and earned everything that has come her way. She’s just a perfect kid to coach attitude-wise, and she’s just a great teammate. She earned the starting spot, and she earned all the accolades. Star of the game.”
Roncalli established the upper hand right away, pouncing on Lake Central hurler Peyton Pepkowski in the first after Rothrock had struck out the side in the top of the inning. Senior second baseman Chloe Parks dropped a ball into shallow right that got under the fielder’s glove and turned into a triple.
Parks came home two batters later when Rothrock reached on a throwing error, and while the Royals only scored once that inning, stranding runners on second and third, the proper vibe had been clearly established.
“I really wanted to get out there and set the tone,” Parks said, “because as a leadoff, I feel like that’s my job. Whether I get on or get out, I’ve got to make solid contact, I’ve got to see as many pitches as I can — and when I hit that triple, I was like, ‘We’ve got this.'”
For the rest of the night, Roncalli hitters continued to make solid contact, particularly during what turned out to be the decisive second inning. Cate Lehner started off the frame with a double, and with one out, Walesky followed by hammering a Pepkowski offering over the fence in left-center field to make it 3-0.
Just as Parks did, Walesky said after the game that she came to the plate anticipating a heavy diet of rise balls and was ready to pounce when the right one came.
“High balls; they were all rise,” she said. “Just keep your hands on top and drive through.”
That cushion was more than enough for Rothrock, who had been the state’s best pitcher all season long and didn’t disappoint in her season finale. The sophomore from Whiteland wasn’t perfect — she walked two of the first five batters she faced and scattered four hits — but she was also never rattled.
Lake Central (31-2) managed to pick up an unearned run in the top of the fifth inning when Kiley Conner reached on an error and scored all the way from first on an RBI double by Jolie Adams, but the Indians never advanced another baserunner past second base.
“I wasn’t nervous for this game,” Rothrock said. “I was actually really excited — I was excited for us, and I knew we’d come out on top.”
Walesky made sure of that. Right after Lake Central cut into the deficit, she restored it by leading off the bottom of the inning with a solo homer to about the same spot where her first shot had landed.
Rothrock did the rest, striking out the side in the top of the seventh to end it. She whiffed Adams on her 101st pitch of the night for the final out, setting off a joyous celebration among the spillover red-clad crowd on the third-base side of the field.
That was Rothrock’s 15th strikeout of the night — the 14th time this season she fanned at least that many in a game — and her 363rd of the season against just six walks.
“We knew that they would have some kids that would put it in play,” Lauck said. “But (Rothrock) just stayed steady. One or two threats, but she just kept doing what she does.”
As dominant as Rothrock was all year long, the night belonged to Walesky, who picked the perfect time to double her career home run total from two to four.
Her teammates couldn’t have been more thrilled for her.
“She’s insane,” Parks said of Walesky. “Out of anybody, I would have loved her to have that. She was cheesing ear to ear coming in every time. She was so excited, and she was locked in at the plate. They were giving her her pitch, and she was taking advantage of it.”
Eight seniors will be moving on from this Roncalli team that had to wait through a lost 2020 season to enjoy their one shining moment on Saturday night. But with Rothrock back in the pitching circle and six of nine starters back overall, the Royals figure to head into next spring favored to repeat.
Still fresh from the rush of closing out a championship season (and dousing Lauck with cold water just moments later), Rothrock might not have been quite ready to answer 2022 questions just yet, but she did so anyway.
“I’m sad I’m losing the seniors,” she said. “They were a big part of the team chemistry; they were awesome. But we’ll also have back a core group of girls, which is also great, and I have a good feeling there are some good incoming freshmen. I’m excited.”
With a medal around her neck and Indiana high school softball in the palm of her hand, it was hard not to be.
Especially since her battery mate — Saturday night’s hero — will be returning, too.
