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Published: 6/16/2012 | Updated: 6/17/2013
Story by Blake Toppmeyer u Herald-Whig Sports Writer
PAYSON, Ill. -- Cheyanne Bowman always had a good view from the pitcher's circle of the hill that starts behind home plate and continues behind the third-base dugout at Payson Seymour's softball field. Normally, a handful of spectators sit there on lawn chairs for games, but it was never too crowded. At least not until Payson hosted a super-sectional game against Hardin Calhoun. "I didn't see any grass I don't think," Bowman said. A record crowd of approximately 700 people came out to watch Bowman and the Lady Indians beat Calhoun 3-2 to advance to the state semifinals for the first time in program history. As thrilling as the state experience was for Bowman, who helped Payson go 32-7 and finish second in Class 1A, the home game against Calhoun still stands out a little more. One of Bowman's top goals entering her senior season was to make her school and the town of Payson care about softball. "There were so many people here," said Bowman, The Herald-Whig's Softball Player of the Year. "I never thought that many people would even show up for a softball game. We usually have to beg people to come to our games. Like our friends, they just don't come usually. But to see that many people here, that was unreal." It became a reality, at least in part, because Bowman became the most dominant pitcher in the area. Strikeout strong Mary Wiedman paused to think for a while when asked how important pitching strikeouts are in the game of softball. At first, she thought maybe a team's batting average trumped pitching strikeouts, but then she recanted, realizing that team hitting could be curtailed by a dominant pitcher. The reality is, strikeouts are probably the single most important statistic in softball. "Definitely when you look at postseason games and teams that make it to the state tournament, you look at their pitchers," Wiedman said. "Pitching is probably the No. 1 thing in the game of softball. If you have a good pitcher, you're going to be in the game." Wiedman has seen this first hand. She coached Bowman at Payson last season and watched her catapult the Lady Indians to a 24-9 record and a regional championship, and Wiedman was an assistant coach this year at Alton Marquette, home to pitcher Alexis Silkwood, a University of Kansas recruit. Bowman and Silkwood set the standard for strikeouts in the Illinois High School Association. Bowman finished with 500 strikeouts this season, which is tied with Silkwood's 2012 mark for second in IHSA history. Silkwood fanned 501 in 2011. "They both definitely try to get people chasing up in the zone," Wiedman said. "Mentally, it's just having two people who refuse to let somebody get a hit off of them." Bowman tossed six no-hitters this season and procured a 31-7 pitching mark with a 0.75 ERA. Her strikeout total was 242 higher than the second-highest area total, and she improved on her area-best strikeout mark of 373 from 2011. "I didn't have a specific number (in mind for season strikeouts)," Bowman said. "I just wanted to beat last year's total, to improve it." Part of that can be attributed to Payson playing in six more games in 2012, but a lot of it also stemmed from Bowman being around the plate more often. Few batters could touch Bowman in 2011, but she helped their cause by issuing 102 walks. Despite the increased appearances in 2012, that free pass total dropped to 43 in 2012, giving her a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11.6 to 1. Wiedman noticed an improved mental approach from Bowman this year. If Bowman did issue a free pass or a hit, she didn't let it snowball. "I thought she just became a more sound player and just had that confidence of a second-year (No. 1) pitcher," said Wiedman, who saw Bowman pitch four times this year, once when Marquette beat Payson 1-0 in the regular season and three more times in the postseason. Bowman, a first-team all-state selection, was also a complete player. She led Payson in batting average (.431), RBI (43) and tied for the team high in doubles (13). Still, it was her pitching that truly carried Payson to its best finish in program history. Postseason dominance Payson coach Karl Asbury saw Bowman's season change after Class 4A-power Benet Academy roughed up Bowman and beat Payson 13-1 on March 30. Bowman built a reputation for herself as a rise ball pitcher, dominating batters up in the zone. Yet after Benet's success, Asbury saw Bowman sprinkle in her other pitches a little more often. "That's when she became a complete pitcher, when she put all the pitches together," Asbury said. "She realized that she had to put some of those other pitches in." The result was a pitcher that was nearly untouchable. After the start of April, no team scored more than four runs against Bowman until Goreville beat Payson 6-0 in the Class 1A championship. Bowman also racked up at least one win against every Illinois team in the area. She was at her best when Payson needed her most. Bowman struck out the first 12 batters she faced in the Class 1A semifinal against Tuscola. "That set the tone," Asbury said. "It gives us confidence and says, â This is going to be one of those games again that we've been in many, many times. It's going to be a close game where we have to score one or two runs. She's on.'" Bowman finished with 18 strikeouts and a one-hitter, and Payson won 1-0 when Megan Boone hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh. Her strikeout total broke the IHSA record for single-game strikeouts in a seven-inning state semifinal or championship game in any class since the IHSA went to four classes in 2008. "She was determined to get as many people out as possible," senior outfielder Lacey Hagerbaumer said. Bowman did a pretty good job of accomplishing that all season long. -- btoppmeyer@whig.com/221-3367
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