After going to the state softball Final Four two years ago, Centralia wanted to go there again. 

On Saturday, the No. 3 Lady Panthers beat the same team in the same place as they defeated Class 6 Winfield 3-0 in a Class 3 state quarterfinal game on Saturday in Centralia. They scored all three runs in the fourth inning to support Jaylynn Brown’s seven innings with 14 strikeouts, three hits and three walks to play at 11 a.m. Friday against Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) (20-9) at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield.

Karli Andersen was a freshman when Centralia (29-6) went to the Final Four and was a sophomore last year when the No. 1 Lady Panthers lost their first district game 3-1 to Hallsville. Andersen, who had a two-RBI double and handled the last out at second base, said Centralia didn’t want that to happen again.

Centralia vs Winfield Photo Gallery

“It fueled our fire for sure,” Andersen said. “Knowing that we didn’t meet our standards last year, we definitely knew we had to push ourselves this year.”

Blakely VanDyke is also a junior and was the first baserunner for Centralia after drawing a walk. Ava Dixon retired the first nine hitters for Winfield (21-2), but VanDyke came around to score on Claire Page’s RBI single for Centralia’s first hit.

“We were excited to get the opportunity to go back,” VanDyke said. “We weren’t going to let it slip through our fingers this team. I’m proud of my teammates for pushing through that game even though it was close from the very beginning.”

Head coach Liz Bostick said the Lady Panthers work together to accomplish the same goal like they did with that first run. Bostick said Dixon is a good pitcher who gave Centralia trouble with her spin and 11 strikeouts, so she wanted them to manufacture runs. After VanDyke’s walk, she advanced on Ealynne Bostick’s bunt and then took third on a passed ball. 

When Centralia scored the first run, Bostick said she felt good with Brown and her sub-1.00 ERA in the circle. She said the other girls can count on her and Brown can count on them to give her run support and good defense.

Bostick said it’s because the Lady Panthers all want success not just for them, but for their teammates. In a meeting with the seniors when they were tasked to come up with a team motto, she said Raleigh Dutton thought of it and then everyone on the team wrote an essay on what those words mean to them.

“I actually brought them out (Friday) and read some passages of, ‘What does want it mean to you?” Bostick said. “Some were tearful about it because it’s something that means something. They wanted it more than anybody else, and they wanted to do it together.”

Bostick said the motto motivates the team and Centralia seems to score runs whenever it is said in a huddle. VanDyke pointed to her dugout after drawing a leadoff walk in the fourth inning because that put Centralia in a good position to score. In the previous game against No. 1 Chillicothe for the district championship, VanDyke was Centralia’s first baserunner in the seventh inning and scored on Brown’s home run.

“She throws a lot of curves,” VanDyke said about Dixon. “As a lefty, it would break in on me, so I was trying to find a pitch I could drive. My job is to get on base. The past couple of times, I’ve been doing that and trying to help my team out.”

Andersen then took an outside pitch to right field to score two runs after she made contact with another outer pitch in her first at bat for a flyout. 

“She likes to come in on the first pitch, so we were all stepping back off the plate so we could hit that ball,” Andersen said. “The outside pitch is my favorite pitch. I’m glad that’s what I got.

Andersen gave Centralia the insurance it was hoping for despite being in a slump recently. After delivering on her double, a timeout was called by Winfield, so Andersen ran over to third base to hug Bostick, who “picks us up when we’re up and picks us up when we’re down.”

Bostick has known Andersen and a lot of the girls since they were little. Andersen, in particular, played for Bostick and the Daniel Boone Little League team out of Columbia in the Little League World Series in 2022. She was on that team with Brown and Ealynne Bostick, so coach Bostick said it feels special to her when they succeed. 

“I had those kids since they were little-bitty, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world,” Bostick said. “When you grow up in this town and you coach them for so long, these kids are my kids and I feel like their mom. I love them to death. They’ve put their hearts and souls into softball, and that’s why I appreciate them so much.”

Andersen said “togetherness” has to be at the core of this team or they “fall off piece by piece.” VanDyke said she agrees and they are so close because they feel like siblings to each other, teasing each other sometimes but mostly fighting hard for each other.

“They play for each other,” Bostick said. “It’s a true team effort, and it’s a true definition of a team.”