"That's very, very true," said Blair Oaks coach Sharon Buschjost, wearing a smile bigger than Wardsville. "I've never been able to pinpoint one that was sweeter than the others, because there's always a new group of girls celebrating it (a trip to the Final Four) for the first time and for others, maybe it's been two or three years.

"They're all special."

No player has been more special than the 5-11 Kliethermes, who's verbally committed to Oregon.

Special? She's 20-1 with a 0.58 ERA this season, and is now 42-3 the last two seasons with an ERA of 0.54.

That is special.

"The amount of growth for Makenna from her freshman to her senior year --- and I'm not just talking balls and strikes --- I'm talking about her as a competitor," Buschjost said. "She's grown physically tough, mentally tough ... I just feel like she's getting stronger and stronger and she's approaching each game with confidence."

That wasn't always the case.

"We had a talk midway through the season," Buschjost continued, "and I told her that it does not have to be just her. She knows she doesn't always have to strike out 16 --- although it's pretty nice --- but if somebody gets a hit, or even hit a ground ball, she sometimes felt like she'd failed early-on in her career.

"Her only goal now, as well as the team's goal, is to bring Blair Oaks softball another state championship."

Warsaw's only hits came on back-to-back bunts in the third inning, but the Lady Wildcats (23-4) only had one other baserunner, a one-out walk in the seventh.

As for Kliethermes' 16 strikeouts ... impressed? Ho-hum ... that's one less than she averages for a seven-inning game.

Her biggest battle Saturday was herself and keeping her emotions in check as she played her final game at the Falcon Athletic Complex.

"I am very emotional," she said with a smile, but also as she fought back tears. "It's sad to see that this is my last home game on this field.

"But we came out with a win and I'm so happy."

Blair Oaks (26-4) was at home, but was the visiting team. Hardly a bad thing, because they scored two runs in the top of the first on a two-run single by another senior, Erin Fennewald.

At that point, we all could have gone home, because a 2-0 lead for Kliethermes is like 22-0 for mortal pitchers.

"I'd be lying if I said I wanted to be visitors --- I think most coaches, if not all, want to be the home team, especially on your own field," said Buschjost, whose team will meet defending state champion Bowling Green in a rematch of last year's title game at 2 p.m. Friday in the semifinals at the Killian Complex in Springfield.

"But there was something about this game that I thought if we did end up visitors, to put pressure on them early with Makenna pitching, that does something to a team, I don't care what you say."

The damage in the first inning was supplied by the top and middle of the lineup. But the rest of the day belonged to the 7-8-9 hitters, as this bottom rose to the top --- senior Kayla Jones, senior Peyton Kusgen and sophomore Bailey Rissmiller combined for seven hits, seven RBI and five runs scored.

And they're batting at the bottom of the lineup why?

"It certainly does make you," Buschjost said with a laugh, "question the head coach's decisions, sometimes,"

Jones finished with two hits, two RBI and three runs scored; Kusgen had three hits, including a two-run homer, and drove in five runs; and Rissmiller knocked out two doubles.

"I couldn't be more proud of them," Buschjost. "And you're talking about great production from two seniors who started the year at 1-2 in the order, then found their role down in the bottom of the order."

The Lady Falcons, who won their only state title in 2009, scored four runs in the third --- thanks largely to three Warsaw errors --- and two more in both the fifth and seventh innings.

In the seventh, it was Kusgen's two-run, wind-aided home run, the first of her varsity career, that set the stage for Kliethermes and the bottom of the seventh.

It ended the only way it could, with a strikeout, because she certainly puts the K in Kliethermes. She said she was able to keep her emotions in check until the final inning.

"It kind of got to me a little bit," she said. "I started looking around and it was like, 'Wow, this is the last time I'm playing on this field.' And I realized after I threw that last strike ... 'Wow, that's my last pitch on this field.' It goes by so fast.

"But everyone's excited, because we're going back to the Final Four. I feel like this year is our year, we're going to go get it."

Loeffler's Link

Blair Oaks senior Makenna Kliethermes strikes out Warsaw's Aubrie McRoberts in the bottom of the third inning of Saturday's Class 2 quarterfinal clash at the Falcon Athletic Complex.

Back-to-back-to-back: Blair Oaks
headed to Final Four once again