SPORTS

SPASH puts emphatic stamp on 9th state title

Scott A. Williams
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

MADISON - Payton Gaber remembers being on the Stevens Point Area Senior High team bus as an up and coming softball player.

She got to witness first-hand the celebration that took place after winning a state championship.

Junior pitcher Aubrey Drohner reflected on when she was 4 years old, and for whatever reason, recollects the state championship SPASH brought home as something she would never forget.

Both those memories may wind up in the deepest recesses of their memory banks, replaced by one much fresher and more special.

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Now every player on this year’s roster understands the exhilaration associated with winning a state championship after the Panthers pounded Watertown 16-4 at Goodman Diamond on Saturday night.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Gaber said. “We watched this (SPASH program) for so long throughout the years, and it’s always been a dream of all of ours. It’s so surreal no, it’s like (the title) is finally ours now, it’s awesome.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better season.”

The Panthers held up the gold trophy for the first time since 2011, and added to their state record haul with the ninth Division 1 state championship in school history.

Watching your heroes and role models growing up reach the ultimate goal is one thing. Being able to relish and cherish actually playing a part in the feat is hard to wrap your mind around.

Emotions finally got to Drohner, a junior who was the winning pitcher in all three state tournament games, after the game as she reflected on the magnitude of what just happened over the last two hours.

“I have a hard time talking right now, it’s unbelievable,” Drohner said. “I don’t think it’s going to sink in for another week. Obviously, this has been my dream since I was little.

“We’re like sisters. I was always told good team chemistry build good teams. I believe this is one of the best teams I ever played with.”

Something every little girl who plays softball in the Stevens Point dreams about from the first time they pick up a ball.

The immensity of the moment first hit Drohner in the first inning when the Goslings (22-8) put three runs on the scoreboard to grab a 3-1 lead.

It was the first time SPASH trailed the entire postseason. She returned to the dugout after the final out and shed some tears due to the the combination of disappointing and scorching weather conditions.

Those tears would eventually be replaced by teams of joy.

“Honestly, I think I was a little bit nervous, I think our whole team was a little nervous. I mean it’s the state championship,” Drohner said.

As it turned out, she never had anything to worry about.

Not with a prolific offense that had put up double-digit run totals all season like they were routine singles.

The Panthers responded with six runs in the top of the third inning, treating Watertown pitcher Ellee Jensen as though she was tossing batting practice.

Sophomore Halle Pavelski all but signaled the end of the Goslings’ chances for their first state championship when she crushed the first offering she saw from Jensen in the at-bat for a three-run home run.

“What an offensive display,” SPASH coach Tom Drohner said. “The way we’ve been hitting the ball, it was just a matter of time before we started squaring up (on the ball). And we were able to square up on a lot of balls.”

The hit parade exhibited by the Panthers flirted with several state records over the course of the demolition. Their 20 hits were one short of the record set by Marshfield in 1991.

Not only did SPASH miss out on the single game record, but it threatened Kimberly’s state record for hits by a team in the three-day tournament of 41 established in 2014, falling one short with 40.

One state record was tied. Pinch-runner Rachel Sullivan scored five runs filling in for Aubrey Drohner on the bases. Sullivan shares the mark set last by Elmwood’s Nancy Bauer in 1977.

“When you hit the ball like that, you’re going to be in every game,” coach Drohner said. “One through nine, we’re capable of hitting the ball in the gaps. You saw it today, we crushed the ball.

“Quite honestly, I was never really nervous. I was disappointed in how we opened up. I knew we would be in the game when it was all over because we hit the ball hard.”

Jordan Kawlewski, Aubrey Drohner, Shaylee Kluck, Pavelski, who also collected five RBI, and Brooke Tuszka all finished with three hits. No. 9 hitter Brittany Flugaur added a pair of hits and scored three times.

It’s the type of offensive explosion the Panthers have grown accustomed to this season.

“Offensively, we really performed this year,” senior catcher Jordan Kawlewski said. “We talked a lot all year about people getting hot at the right time, and I think our entire lineup all got hot at the right time.

“I’ve been playing softball for like 12 years and this is my last game ever, so it feels really good to end the season on a ‘W’ and my career with a ‘W.’ It’s a great way to go out.”

Coach Drohner is cherishing his eighth state championship at the helm of the Panthers. However, this one may hold a little more special place in his heart.

It certainly does for one of his players.

“Winning it with my dad,” Aubrey Drohner said, pausing with tears welling up, “it’s awesome. It’s definitely an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

SPASH

106

243

0-16

20

4

Watertown

300

001

0-4

11

1

WP - Aubrey Drohner 7IP 11H, 1K, 2BB. LP - Elle Jensen 5IP 17H, 2K, 1BB; Kaitlyn Linskens 2IP 3H, 2K, 2BB. HR - SPASH, Halle Pavelski. 2B - SPASH, Jordan Kawlewski, Aubrey Drohner (2).

Records: SPASH 29-3; Watertown 22-8.

Scott A. Williams can be reached at 715-345-2282, or on email at ssswilliam@stevenspoint.gannett.com. Find him on Twitter as @SPJScottWill