AURORA — Ten minutes into the Class 4A softball title game on Saturday at Aurora Sports Park, Holy Family already found itself down 3-0.
Enter Emmaline Humphreys, the Tigers’ right-handed ace, to save the day. Humphreys had just thrown an eight-inning masterpiece in Holy Family’s extra-frame win over Palmer Ridge in the semifinals, and coach Moriah Nguyen was hoping to get the Stanford commit at least an inning of rest to start the championship.
But after an RBI groundout and Windsor star Kylie Smith’s two-run homer to center, rest time was over.
“Emmaline hopped in there and did exactly what she needed to,” Nguyen said. “Tired or not, she was going to empty the tank.”
Humphreys held Windsor at bay the rest of the day, throwing 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, with 13 strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Tigers offense got to Wizards ace Jenna McGinnis, with the help of three Windsor errors, in a six-run fourth inning.
The end result was a 7-4 win for Holy Family, and a second straight title game loss for Windsor after the Wizards fell to Lutheran 1-0 in the championship in 2024. Holy Family’s now won five titles, and four in the last eight years.
Humphreys’ performance was even sweeter for the pitcher, considering she spent the 2024 season sidelined due to an ACL tear.
“That motivated me a lot, because it made it urgent,” Humphreys said. “I didn’t have four years to do this; I only had three. I also got to sit on the sideline, and I watched team dynamics and I watched team culture, and so you could say I was plotting what I wanted this team to be like all of last year.”
Following her marathon outing in the semifinals, where she racked up 18 Ks, an exhausted Humphreys noted she “couldn’t believe I found a second wind” and that “I was pitching off pure adrenaline at the end.”
The star pitcher got help from her offense in the comeback as Holy Family finished 25-4 and Windsor finished 26-3. Senior infielder Jaelyn Sandoval led the way with a three-hit, two RBI performance.
“With how the first tinning started, I was hoping our girls could scratch and claw to the end, and they did,” Nguyen said. “They never gave up or lost faith that we could win this game. And after we took the momentum (in the fourth), Emmaline made sure we didn’t give it back.”
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