ST. JOSEPH — For the last couple weeks, Bailey Dowling has been giving softball lessons back home in St. Joseph. A town where she cemented her name into the IHSA softball record books as one of the state’s greatest high school players during her time at St. Joseph-Ogden from 2017-2020.
It’s where she earned three Class 2A All-State First-Team selections, won three Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year awards and broke the state’s career home-run record (65).
She continued to make her hometown proud over the next four years, fulfilling a third-grade dream of hers by competing on college softball’s biggest stage for the University of Alabama.
Dowling’s college career came to an end on June 2 after a 6-4 loss to Florida in the Women’s College World Series, the Crimson Tide’s third trip to Oklahoma City in Dowling’s four years donning the crimson and white.
“Slowly each day, it’s sinking in just a little bit,” Dowling said of her playing days now being behind her. “I’ve been giving lessons since I’ve been home, and that’s been the first time I’ve picked up a softball since our season ended. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet. Hopefully, I’ll be able to stay in the softball world.”
She isn’t ruling out the possibility of trying her hand in the professional ranks, but she said she’ll have to get surgery on her knee before even thinking about that. In the meantime, she’ll be moving to Florida with the hopes of working for Mizuno, Easton or the Tampa Bay Rays.
This spring was special for Dowling, largely because she finally got the chance to play a senior season. Her senior campaign at SJ-O became a big “What if?” after COVID-19 postponed the season past her leaving for Tuscaloosa, with the two biggest questions being just how far out of reach could she push her home-run record and if she’d finally lead the Spartans back to a state championship.
“I really just soaked everything in every day,” Dowling said of this past season. “No matter if it was the boring stuff like going to rehab or doing weights at 6 a.m. Whatever it was, going to lunch with my teammates one last time, I just soaked everything in and gave it my all. I wouldn’t trade that last year for anything in the world. It was fun, and I’m glad I did get a senior season.”
It took a little extra to get the Crimson Tide back to the WCWS this year, as they had to win two games in a row against SEC rival Tennessee in the Knoxville Super Regional after losing the first game 3-2. The second game wound up being a 3-2 win for Alabama, a 14-inning thriller that saw Dowling hit the game-tying home run to left field in the fourth inning. The Tide won the deciding game three 4-1 to advance to their third WCWS in four years.
Dowling said she doesn’t really remember her game-tying blast in that marathon of a game two. Or much more from the game for that matter. The only thing she recalls clearly is Kristen White driving home the winning run and the celebration that followed.
“Each year, all the seniors always say, ‘Make sure you give it your all because, one day, you’re going to want your teammates playing for you as a senior,’” Dowling said. “It never really soaks in until you’re the senior standing there in the huddle and leading the team. It was really special that all the girls bought in this year. We had a great postseason run, and we had fun doing it.”
It’s memories like that Dowling said she’ll cherish most from her playing career. Like Jenna Johnson’s late-game home run in last year’s win-or-go-home Tuscaloosa Super Regional game three against Northwestern that sent Alabama to the WCWS and made Dowling pee her pants in excitement. It was a ride she won’t soon forget. And one a younger version of herself would have to see to believe.
“Never give up, and always chase your dreams,” Dowling said she would tell her third-grade self if she could. “In third grade, you never expect your dreams to come true. You just go after them. When people tell you you can’t, it gives you a little extra motivation. Just be fearless in anything you do. We did it. We got everything we wanted.”
A look ahead
Home stretch of All-Area packages
We’ve now checked girls’ track and field, girls’ soccer, boys’ tennis and softball off the list of All-Area spring sports accolades to give out. You can read more on all of them and the rest of our All-Area teams at news-gazette.com.
Next on the list are our boys’ track and field and baseball teams, which will round out our All-Area coverage with track and field on Thursday and baseball on Saturday.
Shoutouts
Garrett Schoenle, Charlotte Knights
This is the first week where I don’t have any athletes, coaches, etc. in the area for whom to give a shoutout, but I refuse to let the “Shoutouts” section of this column sit empty. So join me in sending my best friend since sixth grade, Garrett Schoenle, congratulations from many miles away.
Garrett is a pitcher in the Chicago White Sox minor league system. Some of you may have seen me refer to him on Twitter/X as the “left-handed string bean.” He made his AAA debut last Sunday for the Charlotte Knights, tossing the first three innings of a combined no-hitter against the Durham Bulls.
Zach Piatt is a prep sports reporter at The News-Gazette. He can be reached at zpiatt@news-gazette.com.
