If you ask any of the Lady Panthers, winning the softball state championship was more for their teammates than for themselves.

No. 3 Centralia won its first state title since 2016 after defeating No. 2 Oak Grove 4-0 in a rematch from the Class 3 state championship from two years ago. Jaylynn Brown pitched a no-hitter and struck out 13 in her final game as a Lady Panther and secured Centralia’s 21st shutout of the season.

No Centralia softball team has won more games than this year’s team at 31-6, breaking the 29-win school record from 2016. The Lady Panthers won more games than any school this year, and head coach Liz Bostick said none of it would’ve been possible without all of the girls on the roster.

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"There isn't an ego on this team," Bostick said. "We put our hands in the circle because we're together and we're a family. There's no one person that can do this alone." 

Bostick was an assistant coach for Jill Angell on the 2016 team. Centralia has had a winning record in every season except for one since and it reached 20 wins for the third straight season this year. She said this year’s team is one of her favorites, and it’s because of how they are motivated to succeed for the sake of others.

“I’m just proud that these seniors have a state championship,” Bostick said. “These seniors have given me everything they have. I’ve coached them since they were little-bitty, and that’s what is so important to me: to see the love of softball grow in them since they were little and to reach the pinnacle.”

The University of Missouri commit Brown said she had emotions of joy but also sadness because it was her last time playing with her teammates. She left her mark with a laundry list of records in the school record book and is even immortalized in the MSHSAA books with her 1,101 career strikeouts — sixth all-time. 

The emotions from two years ago after losing 8-3 to Oak Grove (29-6) and University of North Carolina commit Molly Munson in the state title game were still with Centralia. Brown said she and others didn’t want to feel that again and didn’t want each other to feel that way again. Brown struck out 13, walked two and allowed no hits after striking out 15 and allowing one run on three hits and three walks to Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) on Friday. 

“We’re not letting her do that again,” Brown said. “This team will really take that to heart. If they’re a tough team and we want to win, we will win because we’ll put our foot to the pedal and not let off.”

Centralia played good defense — not having a playoff error until Saturday — and didn’t care who would have the winning RBI in the postseason. Yes, Brown only allowed one run in six postseason games, which happened in a 5-1 win over Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) in the semifinals, but the Lady Panthers had somebody different pick up the game-winning RBI in each game. 

On Saturday, that was senior Anna Miller on a RBI single that she poked the opposite way down the right field line just within the first base bag. Bostick said Centralia needed more of “an attack mentality” against Munson because she does throw strikes while also not getting too greedy by going for big hits.

“She pretty much hit the bag, and that was great because I know it’s fair,” Bostick said. “That was a huge hit for her.”

Ealynne Bostick had a game-winning RBI through a sacrifice fly against Mexico in districts. Bostick was seven years old when she watched the 2016 team win a state title with her mother on the coaching staff. She was there for every game and knew she would be playing for a state title someday, especially with the girls around her this year.

Centralia played with the motto “want it” this year after senior Raleigh Dutton thought of it, Liz Bostick said. Ealynne Bostick said those words mean not just literally wanting something but what needs to be done so everybody on the team can be happy.

“For me, I need softball,” Ealynne Bostick said. “It’s a part of who I am. Every time I step on the field, I owe it to the game and I owe it to the people I’m playing with to give my all. I need the sport, and I need my team.”

For Brown, the words “want it” means having the resolve to accomplish personal and team goals. She said she made “a crazy jump” sophomore year after putting in extra work outside of practice with her father and during the winter and has maintained this work ethic.

“Wanting it is doing whatever to make it happen,” Brown said. “You can say you want it, but you need to prove that with your actions instead of your words.”

Now the season is over, Liz Bostick admitted she is sad to not have Brown anymore after coaching her since she was 10 years old but is “grateful” for having a kid like Brown with her relentless drive and love of softball. 

“You couldn’t have asked for a kid more humble and more team-oriented and who has wanted to have the drive to be better at softball,” Liz Bostick said.

Ealynne Bostick, since she was eight years old, has caught Brown. Bostick told her mother after a tournament that Brown would be great one day, and now she is “one of the best pitchers she has ever caught.”

“When she first picked up a softball, I first put on the catcher’s gear and we’ve been growing so much together,” Ealynne Bostick said. “It’s crazy to see how far she’s come.”

Brown is more excited for the future of the returning Lady Panthers.

“I’m going to miss these girls, but I’m also looking forward to the great things they do next year,” Brown said.