After coaching club softball for 16 years, Head Coach Brian Edwards of the Illinois Chill-Edwards 18U team announced his retirement from coaching earlier this summer.

Following the announcement, the girls on the team decided to try to win their last tournament, the PGF Midwest Regionals, for their beloved leader.

One of the players texted out to the team: “Guys this week is not only our last tournament, but it’s coach’s last tournament too.   So let’s take everything we have and beat every team and play our hardest and win the last one for coach! He deserves it especially for his last tournament. Let’s lay it all on the field this week and win it.”

On Friday, the Chill lost a game in bracket play and went into the loser’s bracket; on Saturday, however, they rallied to win five consecutive games and knocked out five home runs to capture the trophy and give their coach a cherished piece of hardware.

The PGF Midwest Regional Tournament highlights included contributions from practically the entire team. The offense scored 77 runs and the two Chill pitchers (Kayla Wedl and Langtry) combined for 71 strikeouts, over 11 games.

Here were some of the key contributors on the big last day:

• Allison Spence (2015, Illinois State) had a grand slam, a three-run home run and 10 RBI.
• Karlie Mellott (2014, Cornell) went 9-for-12 with one home run and four RBI.
• Shelley Warmolts (2015) caught three full games with no stolen bases allowed.
• Kayla Wedl (2016) pitched three full games, including two innings in international tie breaker and had 16 strikeouts.
• Taylor Langtry (2014, Bucknell) pitched two full games with 10 strikeouts and only allowed two earned runs over 13 innings.
• Hannah Tauscher (2015) went 5-for-11 including a double and an RBI.
• Carrie Shere (2014, Eckerd) and Shannon McKeon (2015, San Diego) each had home runs.
• Sidney Bottino (2015, Western Illinois), Samantha McLean (2014, Winona State), Alexa Caruso (2014, Yale), Michaela Mooney (2015, Truman State) and Shelley Warmolts (2015) all contributed multiple hits and RBI over the five game win streak.

On Saturday, the Chill beat the Bartlett Silverhawks 8-4, the Kane County Explosion 3-1, the New Lenox Lightning 4-3 (in international tiebreaker), the Michiana Mystique 8-2, and in the finals, the Indiana Shockwaves 10-4.

The Michiana Mystique win was especially sweet as the Midwest knocked the Chill into the loser’s bracket earlier in the tournament but the team played so well they ended up run-ruling their final two opponents.

For the summer, the Chill took second place in the PGF Naperville tournament (losing in the final to a sister team, Illinois Chill – Quinn), third place of 80 teams in the Colorado Fireworks tournament with a record of 9-1, even though the final win was done with only eight players, and 1st place in the PGF Midwest Regional tournament with a record of 10-1.

After the win, the coach told his team: “I cannot think of a better way to end my coaching run than the finish that we had on Saturday! It is a day that I will never forget!”

“One final thought… you are all well prepared to play softball in college. I wish you much success and will follow each of you through your college career. But I want you to remember this, softball is a game. Games are supposed to be fun. So don’t forget to have fun!”

One of the key leaders on the team, pitcher Taylor Langtry (2014, Bucknell), explained: “Coach Edwards is a great coach, and I will miss playing for him.  Besides sharing his passion for softball and his incredible knowledge of the game, he cares so much for all of his players.   Playing for Coach Edwards is truly an opportunity that his players feel phenomenally lucky to have had.”

It wasn’t just the players who loved the coach—parents were high on him too.

“Brian Edwards has helped dozens of girls achieve their dreams of playing college softball,” said one.   “He’s a great coach and an even better person.”