EFFINGHAM — Raegan Boone first fell in love with softball when she was a little girl.
“My love for softball first came from going to all of my dad’s softball games,” Boone said. “Watching him play inspired me. He coached my sister growing up, so I was drug to all those practices while my mom was at work. I wanted to be like one of the big girls and play like them.”
Fast forward a few years and she was just that.
Boone — the Daily News Softball co-Player of the Year — finished her senior season with Effingham in May.
She ended it with a bang, too, setting single-season records in three different categories: hits, runs scored and stolen bases.
Boone batted .480 and had 60 hits.
“A lot of very talented people have gone through Effingham. Being able to break that means a lot, especially knowing that Jerzi (Bierman) and Sydney (Donaldson) also broke the record, but I just had a few more hits than them,” Boone said. “Effingham softball is changing.”
She scored 53 times and had 49 stolen bases.
All came with a positive outlook that resonated with the rest of the team.
“Trying to keep everyone positive and get everyone through the games is hard, but that is our thing — positivity,” Boone said. “Sticking together and picking each other up is one thing that helped us get over our ups and downs.”
With Boone leading the way, the Flaming Hearts were able to capture the third regional championship in program history.
“Being the third is super special, especially with it being my senior season,” Boone said. “That was one of our goals.”
What was just as special was having her dad, Jeremy, along for the ride.
Softball has become almost like a second job for the Boone family, and with that, Raegan can only give thanks.
“He’s made me a better softball player because he’s brought me to everything; the same with my mom, but my dad’s been at every single thing that he possibly can and he’s practiced with me day in and day out,” Raegan said. “He’s always willing to do the next step with me and figure out what the next step is in making me a better ball player and making the hard decisions that some people don’t want to make.”
Raegan said she got that blazing speed from Jeremy.
“He was a runner back in the day,” Raegan laughed.
Raegan played for the Hearts three of her four years in high school. She elected not to play her sophomore year.
Head coach Jerry Trigg said Raegan was primarily used as a courtesy runner as a freshman.
“Her freshman year, she was primarily a (courtesy) runner, but only because she was faster than the other person she was running for,” Trigg said. “It wasn’t until her junior year that we realized she got a good jump every time and wasn’t inconsistent.
“There’s an art to that.”
Whenever Raegan reached base, it almost became predictable.
A stolen base was bound to happen.
“She’ll be hard to replace at that leadoff spot,” Trigg said. “She was so good at working the count and getting on base. She led off many games with a hit, stole second and sometimes stole third. She got us on the board usually early.”
Raegan finished this past season with a .529 on-base percentage.
The Illinois Coaches Association Class 3A All-State First Team and Apollo Conference All-Conference First Team selection credits her countless hours of hard work to become the threat she became.
“I’ve put in a lot of work,” Boone said. “There’s been doubt from people, so having that negative aspect has helped me take their criticism and say I can make it.”
Raegan will continue playing softball at Western Illinois University.
“It was a home away from home,” she said.
Alisa Goler has been the head coach for the Leathernecks since 2021.
Raegan said she is looking forward to learning from her for the next four years.
“One thing that drew me to her was her past achievements and how everybody speaks about her,” Raegan said. “She’s a well-known yet well-rounded woman in how much she’s done for the sport.
“It’s special to play for her because she’s a coach who will be straightforward with you and tell you what you’re doing and I like that.”