DAVENPORT — Jason Hawk paused for a moment to watch Davenport Assumption celebrate its Class 3A Region 8 championship and a spot in next week’s state tournament.
It’s a celebration Hawk thinks his Central Lee team can make next season.
Assumption’s 6-3 win over the Hawks on Tuesday night at the St. Vincent Athletic Complex wasn’t the ending to an otherwise brilliant season that Hawk wanted.
“It’s hard, as a coach, to accept it,” he said. “But I accept the way we played all year, and that’s what I’m proud of.”
Central Lee (25-11) set a program record for wins, won its second consecutive SEI Superconference South Division title, and advanced to the regional final for the first time, milestones that Hawk made sure to point out to his team in their post-game meeting.
He knew how close they came to making it to the state tournament.
A momentum shift in the first inning made a big difference in this game.
Central Lee had two on with one out in the top of the inning and didn’t score. Assumption (24-12) then scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of two errors by the Hawks.
“If we would have scored in that first inning, I think our confidence would have been a little better,” Hawk said. “And then if they don’t get any runs in the bottom of the inning, then we would have really put the pressure on them. Coming back from a three-run deficit in the first inning, yeah, it’s hard. But I’ve got the ball team that could do it.”
The Hawks showed that in the third inning. Shanna Buford’s double in the left-center field gap scored Jaci Hawk with Central Lee’s first run. Carlee Pezley scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 3-2, but it was a play a few pitches earlier that could have made a difference.
A previous wild pitch didn’t bounce back from the backstop like Pezley thought it was going to, Jason Hawk said, and she stayed at third base.
“We were right there to score more (in the third inning),” Hawk said. “One key hit, and we would have been up easy. If we score on the first passed ball, then we score on the second passed ball, and it’s a different ballgame.
“She thought it was going to hit (the backstop) and come back. She read it wrong, and that happens. It’s better safe than sorry.”
Assumption scored two runs in the bottom of the third, then added to its lead with a run in the fourth.
Central Lee got a run back in the sixth when Jali Hawk’s single scored Kenna Sandoval.
The Hawks, who rallied from three runs down to beat Washington the regional semifinal, wanted to make a similar comeback in the seventh. Elaina Barlow thought she had led off the inning with a walk on a 3-2 pitch, and was halfway down to first base as the umpire called her out on strikes. Assumption pitcher Molly Roe then got the last two outs to secure the win.
Buford is Central Lee’s lone senior, so Hawk knows his team will be a year older with a lot more confidence next season.
“What I honestly take away is we’re young,” he said. “We’re losing (Buford), but she’s a huge, huge part of our team, a big part of our team, captain of our team. Captain of the offense, captain of the defense. It’s going to be hard to try to put somebody in that position – not replace her, but fill that position. But after that, we’ve got so many girls that are coming back who are young. We’re going to be hard to beat. It will be tough to beat us next year.”
Next year, though, could wait.
“I’ll look forward to it,” Hawk said. “but I’m going to sit here and enjoy what these girls have accomplished this year.”
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