Watch that scene
With a postgame that featured blasting ABBA, McCorkle gets 2 hits as Valparaiso secures DAC championship and looks ahead
Given what was at stake Tuesday, Paige McCorkle tried to remain calm.
The Valparaiso senior outfielder tried to keep focused.
She tried to stay in the moment.
“I made sure to breathe,” McCorkle said. “I get in my head a lot. I made sure I was having fun and remembering what the game was about. That really helped.”
McCorkle, a Grace recruit, had two hits, including a run-scoring single, as the Vikings topped visiting Crown Point 5-0 in a Duneland Athletic Conference game.
Valparaiso (18-2, 13-1), ranked No. 12 in the Class 4A state coaches poll, wrapped up sole possession of the conference title, its first since 2001, with the win against the Bulldogs (14-12, 11-3).
“It means the world to us because it just
shows we’re on the right track,” McCorkle said. “We’re a family. It’s everything.
“We worked hard for this. We did this for a reason. It brought us together, and we’re stronger together.”
A loss by Valparaiso would’ve meant a three-way split of the conference title with No. 11 Lake Central (19-6, 12-2) and Crown Point.
But Vikings coach Tracy Corneil, who notched her first win against the Bulldogs since her tenure began in 2011, had no intention of sharing. She didn’t even try to avoid her celebratory postgame dousing as ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” blared over the public address system.
“This one feels awesome,” Corneil said. “I’m proud of all of them because they work hard. It just shows the time and effort these guys have committed to our program.”
Next week Valparaiso will pursue its first sectional title since 2001. “We’re not done,” Corneil said.
Players like Charlotte Dombrowski make that possible. The right-hander turned in another stellar outing Tuesday, tossing a four-hitter with eight strikeouts and no walks.
“She uses all parts of the strike zone, and she changes speeds a little bit,” Crown Point coach Angie Richwalski said. “She has really good control and command of her pitches. She puts it where it needs to be when it needs to be there and keeps everybody on their toes. … She has great defense to back her up too.”
“We just couldn’t string anything together. We were getting stuff — we were making things happen — but we just couldn’t get it all to go one after the other. Hopefully we have a little better luck on the timing on all of our offense next week, if we get to that.”
DD Lopez and McCorkle each had a run-scoring single in the third inning as
Valparaiso grabbed a 2-0 lead. Brooke Corneil, who had two hits, highlighted the Vikings’ three-run fourth with an RBI single.
Valparaiso reversed an 11-2 loss to Crown Point on April 20, which was one day after an emotional 11-8 win against 2021 Class 4A state runner-up Lake Central.
“We were together more,” McCorkle said. “That last game, it was just a weird mood. It was three games in a row, and we were all really tired. That’s never an excuse. We were still on the high of Lake Central, which obviously was a great win, but it just proves that we got better and we got smarter.”
The Vikings suffered their second loss of the season Monday, allowing three runs in the seventh in a 6-4 defeat against Boone Grove. Corneil said they “put it in the rearview mirror.”
“We made sure that no matter what, if someone was down or off, we tried to pick them up,” McCorkle said.