Montgomery dominated in crunch time

By MAUREEN LYNCH - mlynch@nwherald.com

Marengo's Chloe Montgomery has been named the Northwest Herald Co-Softball Player of the Year. Montgomery shares this honor with Cary-Grove's Lindsay Efflandt and finished the year with a 1.50 ERA, a 26-6 record and 225 strikeouts in 196 innings. (Amanda Schwengel - aschwengel@nwherald.com\)

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Mike Schmidt felt compelled to personally congratulate Chloe Montgomery.

Schmidt’s LaSalle-Peru softball team had moments ago lost to Montgomery’s Marengo team, 1-0, in the IHSA Class 3A state championship game at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria. Despite the loss on the state’s biggest stage, Schmidt wanted to make sure he gave credit where it was due.

“I wanted her to know what a wonderful job she did,” he said of the Indians’ senior lefty who shut out the Cavaliers on four hits to help Marengo win the state title.

“We’d been shut out just once this year, and it was on a day when it was about 25 degrees outside and wasn’t a good day for anyone. She just did a wonderful job. We got beat, and we got beat by a really good player. She should be proud of herself.”

Montgomery’s postseason warranted every compliment she received from opposing coaches. In the Indians’ seven playoff games, Montgomery allowed eight runs and none in the state semifinal or final. She came one pitch shy of a no-hitter in the Class 3A semifinal against Bethalto Civic Memorial, allowing a single in the seventh inning, and fanned eight while scattering five hits in 14 innings of state finals softball.

For her dominance down the stretch and for helping the Indians rally from a 5-6 start to a state championship, Montgomery is the Northwest Herald Co-Softball Player of the Year as selected by the sports staff with input from local coaches.

Montgomery shares this year’s honor with Cary-Grove sophomore pitcher Lindsay Efflandt who helped the Trojans to a 30-2 overall record. The two received equal support from coaches and the sports staff, so the Northwest Herald has named Co-Players of the Year for the first time in softball.

Montgomery is cautiously proud of what she did last weekend. She credited her teammates for rallying behind her, for playing standout defense and for believing in her even when she got into a jam. Montgomery finished the year with a 1.50 ERA, a 26-6 record and 225 strikeouts in 196 innings. She walked 80 batters – “Chloe likes to make it interesting,” Marengo coach Dwain Nance quipped. – but allowed just 132 total hits.

Nearly as noteworthy as her performance in the state finals was her game-tying double in the bottom of the seventh inning during the Class 3A Northern Illinois University Supersectional against Sycamore. Montgomery had surrendered four runs to the Spartans in the top of the frame to put Sycamore up 4-2, but belted a one-out two-run double to the fence in left center to even the score again.

The Indians won on senior center fielder Alysa Grude’s walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighth.

The Indians relied more on Montgomery’s arm than her bat, Nance said, so her hitting was a major bonus. She batted .423 with a .679 slugging percentage, 38 RBI, four home runs, two triples and 19 doubles. She struck out just nine times.

“I just gave it everything I’ve got,” Montgomery said. “ ... I just really wanted to win. I had to do everything possible when I went out there to make sure that happened.”

Nance, who is the Northwest Herald Softball Coach of the Year, made the definitive decision in the middle of the season to keep Montgomery on the mound through the remainder of the year, in part because of her effectiveness and also for her demeanor.

“She was just a great leader,” Nance said. “Even at times when things weren’t going so well, she never let things get to her so the team didn’t worry, either.”