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Last week, Skyline came back to beat Warsaw in the Class 2 State Quarterfinals.
“It’s here now and it’s kind of an unreal moment. I feel like I’m still in shock from it,” said Keelie Holmes.
Even after going down by 2-runs, Skyline held itself together. A big part of that was from junior pitcher Lilly Whitten.
“We always come around toward the end of the game, and I knew what we had to do with that pitcher, and we did it,” Holmes said.
“She went out to my center fielder when the inning was done. My center fielder is a freshman, this game is mind blowing for her, and she hugged her and said, ‘hey, it’s not that big of a deal.’ For a pitcher to do that when a big hit was given up, and that’s just her composure,” said Shawna Bybee.
The Mizzou commit threw 15 strikeouts in the Quarterfinal game.
“You just trust Lilly to throw it down the middle and a lot of times they’re swinging and missing,” Holmes said.
“We just all hold our ground, and I think all of our nerves went away and we focused on each pitch instead of the last at bat or the next pitch. We focused on one pitch at a time,” Whitten said.
And she’s been key in the Tigers’ success down the stretch.
“I think it’s just the composure Lilly has on the mound. I mean, giving up two runs and not feeling any fluster,” Bybee said.
As the Tigers prepare for the state semifinals, Lilly Whitten is our Arby’s High School Athlete of the Week.
