photo by: Jeremy Baker/Contributed photo

The Eudora High softball team shows off its 2022 Class 4A state championship trophy on Friday, May 27, 2022 in Salina, where the Cardinals defeated Bishop Miege, 4-2, in the state title game.

When the Class 4A state softball bracket came out, the third-seeded Eudora Cardinals knew exactly how they wanted it to go.

Two wins for them and two wins for Bishop Miege would put the two in the state title game, where Eudora would get a chance for revenge for its loss to the Stags in the 4A state basketball championship game a couple of months ago.

That was exactly the way it played out and the Cardinals got their revenge, winning Friday’s title game 4-2 at Salina South High School.

“It wasn’t basketball, but I think this was a little piece of revenge and it just feels good whenever you beat someone like that,” senior shortstop Emma Durr said after the victory, which ended with Durr squeezing the final out on a line drive in the top of the seventh inning.

“What a great way to end my high school career,” Durr added.

Two innings earlier, it was Durr’s two-run home run that made the victory possible. After trailing 1-0 early, the Cardinals built a 2-1 lead but saw that disappear midway through the game when Miege tied things at 2.

With a runner on in the bottom of the fifth inning, Durr gave her team the lead for good with a two-run home run to center field. The blast came two pitches after Durr ripped a near-home run to left field that flew just foul. She insisted that during the entire at-bat all she was trying to do was get a hit, but when she made contact with the 3-2 pitch that wound up delivering the game-winning runs, she had a feeling something big had just happened.

“I felt it,” she said. “But you still keep your head down and run hard. Rounding second, it felt like any other one, but then at third I saw my coach with the biggest grin on his face and then my whole team was there at home plate. That was amazing. This was really a team victory in every way and none of us could have done it without each other.”

EHS coach Bill Finucane agreed with that notion.

“What a great group of girls and what fantastic softball players,” he said Friday. “They knew they could handle this and they just stuck with it, stayed poised and got it done. It’s just a wonderful feeling.”

Starting pitcher Kira Baker closed out her EHS career with another memorable day. In Eudora’s two wins on Friday, the senior who is headed to Baker University next season pitched all 14 innings and logged 23 strikeouts while walking three batters and giving up just two earned runs.

Just before the final out, Finucane made a visit to the circle to talk with Baker.

“The whole infield gathered around us and every one of those girls slapped gloves with Kira or told her ‘You got this’ to give her the confidence to get that last out,” Finucane said. “That was a true indication of what this team is all about. They played for each other, they played together and I would put them up against any team in the state.

“They wanted this matchup and they wanted it to end just the way it did.”

Baker finished the season with a 19-0 record and a school record 248 strikeouts. She pitched 114 innnings and gave up just 38 hits, nine runs and five earned runs while finishing with an ERA of 0.31.

Samantha Claire was 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI double in the title game. Elli Han added an RBI hit, as well.

In Eudora’s 6-0 semifinal win over Clearwater earlier Friday, right fielder Katie Courter, who also scored a run in the title game, finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Baker, Claire and Harper Schreiner recorded hits, as well.

The Cardinals finished the season with a 23-2 record, outscoring their five postseason opponents 40-5 en route to winning the 4A state title.