EFFINGHAM — Since taking over the St. Anthony softball program, head coach Makayla Taylor has witnessed her share of firsts.
This season was no different.
Taylor, the three-time Effingham Daily News Softball Coach of the Year, saw her team hit .391 with a .449 on-base percentage and a .641 slugging percentage. The Bulldogs launched a whopping 45 home runs while driving in 274 runs.
“I need to get a couple more power chains because that power chain looks a little rough after this year,” Taylor laughed. “There are so many people on the team that would finish up with softball practice and go and hit another round.
“They were always looking to get better and that showed a lot of the younger girls what it takes.”
The deep lineup that St. Anthony possessed featured five players who hit .400 or better and three who hit .300 or better. Four players were selected to the National Trail Conference All-Conference First Team and four were named all-staters by the Illinois Coaches Association.
Though this season had those firsts, there were also lasts for a group of seniors that set the standard for the program going forward.
Taylor has been with this senior class from the very beginning. She started in 2021.
“It was a sentimental year because it was a lot of lasts for them. I started with all these girls as freshmen and seeing them blossom and grow into amazing softball players and even better people is cool,” Taylor said. “I’m excited to see what they’re going to do in life.”
One such senior was Maddie Kibler.
Kibler returned to the team, and caught, one year removed from not playing at all due to an injury.
“Maddie, coming back and making it a point to want to get back to catch and do things that she was capable of doing before; she looked like she never missed a beat,” Taylor said.
Kibler was selected to the all-state third team.
This past season was shaping up to be an injury-free one until the tail end of the campaign when star shortstop Adysen Rios was injured, sidelining her for nearly three weeks before she returned in the sectional championship game.
Rios ended up earning a spot on the all-state second team regardless of the injury. She was replaced by sophomore Lilly Gannaway during her absence.
“Lilly did such a good job coming in, doing the job that she needed to do and helped us make that run there in the postseason,” Taylor said.
The aforementioned depth the team had has allowed Taylor to be able to work around an injury here and there over the last couple of years.
She credits the team’s leadership for guiding them through the adversity more than anything.
“Whether it was seniors, juniors, sophomores, freshmen, or whatever it may be, there was a lot of leadership with every grade,” Taylor said. “I feel like there’s that one person who leads, but as a team, collectively, we all led together.”
The amount of softball the team plays over the summer, though, also plays a role. The season, realistically, never ends, be it on the field or off.
“Summer is amazing. I love summer ball,” Taylor said. “I think it’s a great thing. It’s turned into this thing that’s all year round, but truly, why we’re so successful is from the weight room, too. That’s something we stress throughout the season, ‘If you want to get better, you got to hit the weight room.’ We try hard to focus on that.”
The winning, in turn, reflects that focus.
This past year was a nearly similar story, as St. Anthony won its fourth-straight regional and second-straight sectional — the third in the last four years. They also captured the National Trail Conference Tournament title for the third straight season.
Taylor also saw a youth movement this past year when freshman Julia Schultz became the team’s starting third baseman.
The lone underclassman in a lineup filled with seniors didn’t shy away from the moment, finishing the year with a .317 batting average in 82 at-bats.
Overall, Schultz was just another player that improved.
That improvement wasn’t just with the players, though.
Taylor said the coaches also learned to improve themselves.
“I can’t stress that enough,” Taylor said. “If you’re a coach, you have to find ways to be better. For myself, I always wanted to make it a point, ‘How can I do this? What’s the new thing going on? What has helped other teams succeed and taking little pieces from each program and making it and molding it into your own.’
“That’s been my mission for St. Anthony softball.”