Hickory Creek Softball Wins State Championship

FRANKFORT, IL — The Hickory Creek girls softball team has won the IESA Class 3A state championship.

Coach Mitch Stein told Patch that this was the third straight year the team has made it to the state championship game. Hickory Creek was runner-up at state for the last two years, before claiming the championship in 2023.

Stein said this is the program's fourth IESA championship; the team won three in a row in 2015, 2016 and 2017 in Class 2A.

To advance to the state final tournament, Hickory Creek defeated Homewood's Hart 4-1 last week to take the sectional championship crown.

The Frankfort team faced Charleston in the first round of the tournament, defeating the team 10-1, according to IESA. Hickory Creek then faced Lemont's Old Quarry in the semifinals, and won again, 11-2.

In the state championship, Frankfort defeated Barrington's Prairie 12-4. Hickory Creek finished the season with a 24-2-0 record, according to IESA.

"The main reason I feel we won is that the girls bonded as a team and played for each other. We did a lot of fun events like our Challengers game and many team get-togethers," Stein said. "They were simply happy to be around each other. They smiled, danced, sang and laughed every practice and game. Coach Nemeth and I wanted them to be themselves and play up to their potential. It felt like a family. We live by the motto that happy and confident softball players, play very well."

In addition to the state championship win, Stein said the team also broke some Class 3A records. Reagan Johnson pitched three complete games in the tournament, with 34 strikeouts, which is a new record. The team's total of 33 runs is also a 3A record. And, Bella Cortes had four hits in the championship game, which is a new record.

The team consists of Bella Cortes, Julia Donnellan, Katie Harper, Sarah Hellrung, Emersyn Hughes, Reagan Johnson, Jillian Kwiecinski, Emilia Maciel, Haley Muehlnickel, Lauren Muehlnickel, Olivia Spacucello, Maddy Sweet and Juliette Vock.

The team is managed by Kate Bohms and coached by Erin Nemeth and Mitch Stein.