Although listed as a freshman, Concordia Academy’s Taylor Brunn is already a veteran on the softball diamond.
“(Brunn)'s been with us since her seventh-grade year,” Beacons’ coach Gina Tupper said. “She’s a ballplayer, and she’s got great composure.”
That composure was on display Wednesday when Brunn went five innings for Concordia Academy in a 9-7 win over St. Agnes in the Class 2A, Section 4 finals, punching the Beacons’ ticket to their first state tournament since 2004.
A Tri-Metro all-conference selection in 2015, Brunn said that despite her role as starting pitcher, she's no more important than any other player on the Beacons' roster.
“Everyone’s equal on the team, so when it’s your time to come up, you do your job,” Brunn said.
Senior shortstop Madison Stilp said that even with the balance up and down the lineup, Brunn is still the key cog in the machine.
“We look to her to get base hits when we need them and to come in clutch when she’s pitching,” Stilp said. “We definitely can count on her.”
Stilp bashed a two-run triple in the fifth inning to give the Beacons a 5-3 lead, and legged out an infield single in a four-run seventh.
“She’s grown a ton,” Tupper said of Stilp. “It was huge for her to get that big hit tonight.”
Stilp is one of just three seniors on the Concordia Academy (12-10) roster, and the lineup includes three freshmen and two seventh-graders.
Of those three seniors, just one has played high school softball for the Beacons before this year.
Stilp transferred to Concordia Academy from North St. Paul her junior year and left behind her previous spring sport of lacrosse to patrol the infield for the Beacons. Senior outfielder Ella Beardsley was a track and field athlete before joining the softball team.
St. Agnes also featured a youthful team, dressing 12 underclassmen., and coach Dan Berthiaume said that the pride he has in this team has never wavered.
"I'm very proud of this group," Berthiaume said. "They've had a great season and they battled for sure."
But the Beacons' young roster held up in the section tournament, with No. 2-seeded Concordia Academy picking up a 10-6 win over top-seeded St. Agnes on May 24 before a 9-1 loss to the Aggies on Tuesday.
Brunn said she was able to shake off the bad outing and defeat with the help of a fresh start.
“We just kind of wiped away that game, and we were grateful that we had another chance to get to state,” Brunn said. “We went in with a different mindset today, that we were ready to win.”
