A postseason hot streak with a string of upsets. Some good pitching and timely hitting, capped by one swing of the bat.
The Holy Cross High School softball team rose to the challenge in last week’s 9th Region tournament. Given an opportunity against the three-time defending champ in the final, little Holy Cross took down mighty Highlands with a walk-off grand slam, propelling the Indians to this week’s KHSAA State Softball Tournament in Lexington.
How did Holy Cross get to this moment? How did the Indians pull off one of the greatest upsets in 9th Region softball history? What is behind the late-season surge that sends them to John Cropp Stadium for Friday’s 10 a.m. first-round game against 10th Region champion Harrison County?
The softball questions drop in between a trio of talents like a hanging curve. Indians standout Evie Thomas, walk-off hero Kayla Fledderman and head coach Courtney Turner believe they have the answers, and the common thread is belief.
“It’s a lot of girls stepping up and fighting through and finding a way,” said Turner, a former Holy Cross standout who returned to the program. “Credit to them for sticking to the drills and believing in themselves.”
Fledderman, whose slam over the centerfield fence sealed it at Thomas More University, drills down further.
“My coaches and teammates all believe in us and that is so good and encouraging,” Fledderman said. “Belief is definitely important.”
Thomas got the seventh-inning rally going with a single. She was standing on third when Fledderman’s stroke of genius, her first career home run, cleared the fence. Thomas has been carrying the pitching staff with a 16-11 record and an Indians-low 2.84 ERA while batting a team-best .410.
“Not that we didn’t believe in Kayla because we do believe in Kayla, but the probability of that happening was impossible,” Thomas said. “We never hit home runs, and she did it at a college field. We just kept the faith and she came through.”
The Indians had two home runs all season until Fledderman drilled a low 1-1 pitch that found too much of the strike zone. Fledderman is 12th on the team with a .195 batting average. Her specialty is drawing walks. She has 15 bases on balls this season, giving her an on-base percentage of nearly .340.
Fledderman didn’t fit the profile of a clutch home run hitter, but she looked the part in her last at-bat against Highlands. For most of the season, Holy Cross didn’t seem to meet the criteria of a regional championship winner. But the Indians met the moment against Highlands.
The Holy Cross record hovered around .500 all season. The Indians were 9-9 in early May following a 1-3 showing at the Kentucky All “A” Classic Statewide Softball Tournament. They lost three straight at the All “A” Classic at the end of April. They lost 7-1 to Mason County and suffered a deflating 9-0 loss at Ryle to begin May, giving them five losses in six games.
None of it hinted at a deep postseason run. The Indians were a respectable team, sure. Just not the kind anyone expected to be playing in June. Then came the regional tournament and suddenly expectations were just suggestions.
The Indians took down Dixie Heights in the opening round, then turned the tables on Ryle in the semifinals, handing a loss to the same team that had shut them out weeks earlier. But the real shock came in the championship.
Highlands looked poised to extend its reign, holding a late 3-1 lead. Then Holy Cross rewrote the ending: a comeback, a 5-3 victory, and a regional title, the kind of improbable win that turns tournament brackets into scrap paper.
On paper, Holy Cross has been outscored this season, 197-183. That’s 14 runs in arrears. Yet the Indians are surprise 9th Region softball champions and heading to state. All the regional chaos improved the Indians’ record to 18-12.
Belief systems, whether grounded in spirituality or shared conviction, often flourish especially when joy enters the equation, just as it has for Holy Cross on this improbable run. But belief doesn’t grab a bat and get base knocks, and it doesn’t wear a glove. How exactly did tiny Holy Cross top the bigger schools on the way to its first-ever KHSAA regional title? How on earth, and in the cosmic chaos of postseason softball, did they stick the landing?
Coach Turner unpacks it all after the unbelievable unfolded in the most clutch ways for miraculous Holy Cross, and it’s beyond belief.
“Our senior class of four players have been great all year,” Turner said. “Plus, we have freshmen that learned the basics and they’re only getting better.”
The seniors are Thomas, Jordan Reiselman, Zakyah Ryan and Suzette Klaiss. Reiselman is batting .288. Ryan comes in at .280 while Klaiss is hitting .264. Sophomore Paige Lachmann is batting .393. The top freshmen include Madison Urlage (.383), Zoey Baker (.346) and Fledderman. Urlage leads the team with 11 doubles. Baker is next with eight doubles. Fledderman isn’t bereft of power as she has a team-leading two triples.
Thomas is the Northern Kentucky Softball Coaches Association Division III co-player of the year. Rieselman is a first-team selection. Baker, Urlage and Klaiss are second-team picks.
“Evie has definitely played a big part in this,” Turner said. “She has played really well. The girls rally around her, and she helps us keep our emotions in check. Evie has really matured, and it helps her be stronger for the team. Being mentally tough no matter what allows the team to focus only on softball.”
Turner said this fuels the team’s ability to hit in the clutch.
“Kayla wasn’t the only one getting a clutch hit for us,” the coach said. “Reiselman and Urlage also had big hits. All our girls embrace the underdog mentality.”
Fledderman would like to see her average a little higher right now, but she has been happy with what power she has shown because she’s worked hard on that aspect of her game. Thomas’s grandfather has driven her to pitching clinics over the years. Plus, he handed his granddaughter a four-leaf clover he found on the way to the Highlands game, and she put it in her pocket for good luck.
“I have five brothers so my grandfather is like my baseball manager because my mom and dad can get busy,” Thomas said. “Because of my grandfather, I’m better. And the four-leaf clover obviously brought us good luck.”
Coach Turner said she’ll take all the help she can get to help her team win, including a good-luck charm.
“When it’s in my favor,” said Turner, “I’ll believe in it.”
The hope now is to manifest all that belief, hard work, determination, skill and maybe a little more luck into another upset on Friday. Harrison County (33-6) has outscored opponents, 337-70. The Fillies are hitting a robust .371 as a team with 27 home runs and carry a microscopic ERA of 1.28.
“At our first practice after the regional, it was like, OK, we won, we’ve celebrated but we’re not done,” coach Turner said of the lively and loud workout. “We have to continue to believe we can do this. We can do this, and that’s what we’ve be getting across this week.”
If the Indians can push across some runs and cross up the Fillies, they will play in a 5:30 p.m. quarterfinal Saturday against the Louisville Assumption-Oldham County winner. The state semifinals are June 13 followed by the June 14th final.
“We’re bringing each other up and believing in ourselves,” Fledderman said. “We’re working hard out there. We just want to go play now. At the regional, we had nothing to lose and I still feel that way.”