WIAA softball: Pacelli has unfinished business at state tournament
STEVENS POINT - Paige Hintz admitted it hurt.
The Pacelli all-state senior catcher also acknowledged the 2-1 loss to Juda/Albany in the Division 4 state championship game a year ago fueled the Cardinals this season.
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The bad taste left by the heartbreak of coming up a game short of the school's fourth WIAA state championship was all the motivation the Cardinals needed.
"(The loss) was absolutely motivation," Hintz said. "Everyone had that little bit of fire (this season). The definitely fired us up to get stronger in all aspects.
"It's motivation when we get down there again. We're going to see that field. We're going to feel the excitement and we're going to feel like we have to get it done because we're not going to feel that feeling twice. I know personally it's tough to think about."
Pacelli (25-0) will look to take care of some unfinished business when it meets Horicon (26-1) in a Division 4 state semifinal at 8 a.m. Friday at Goodman Diamond.
The winner moves into the state championship game at approximately 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
A silver trophy was nice. But the Cardinals are accustomed to bringing home the gold ball as a WIAA member school. That was the case in 2003, 2012 and 2015.
"It's so hard to get back to the dance. People don't realize how hard that is," Pacelli coach Ann Molski said. "All you have to do is ask those teams who were thinking they were going to get (to state) like Cochrane-Fountain City or Luther.
"I've told them I believe the only team that is going to beat us is us. We're just going to play our ball. We're going to rely on each other. Be the team we are and we should be proud of ourselves no matter what."
Horicon is no stranger to the Cardinals.
The teams met in a sectional semifinal last season when the Marshladies were ranked No. 1. Pacelli ended their season and went on to state.
When Molski looks at Horicon she feels as though she's looking into a mirror.
That translates into a potent hitting attack, including a .436 team batting average. Strong pitching in sophomore Allison Tillema, who sports a 1.02 ERA. And an air-tight defense with just 15 errors all season.
Plus, Horicon will be poised to return the favor in the postseason this time around.
"Looking at them, they're us. They have the same type of hitters. They have good pitching. They have sound everything," Molski said. "It's going to be a matter of who takes advantage of what."
One slight different is the Cardinals have a legitimate two-headed monster in the circle while Tillema has been a workhorse for Horicon.
If sophomore Haley Raflik isn't mowing down hitters, then junior Karah Kluck is getting the job done.
Kluck took her turn in the sectional final and she tossed a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts in a 1-0 win over Spencer.
"Neither one of them have that ego. That 'I'm the starting pitcher' ego. They have the 'I'm a Pacelli pitcher, I'm a Pacelli player' mindset," Molski said. "They have their role and they're really in sync with it. If one of them doesn't have it, the other one does."
In many respects, the hard part is over.
Pacelli sidestepped all the potential land mines to get back to Madison. Two more wins is all that stands between being able to exchange a silver trophy for gold.
Rest assured the Cardinals plan to do everything in their power to make that a reality.
"I'm confident in these girls. They want it really bad. I want it really bad," Hintz said. "All we can do is go play our hearts out and see what happens.
"I know we're all so excited for that experience again and to play on that diamond. To play for that title, God willing."