GILLESPIE — Ava Parish is immune to the sound.
Sadie Sholtis hears, but pays no attention.
Gillespie High senior pitcher Emma Gipson lets out a loud grunt with every single pitch.
"I don't even hear it," said Parish, the Miners starting shortstop
Added Sholtis, "It's just what she does. It means she's on her game."
Gipson was at her grunting best on Saturday morning.
So were the Gillespie bats.
Gipson fired a nifty four-hitter to help the Miners to a 14-2 win over Staunton in the Class 2A Gillespie Regional championship game at Ben-Gil Middle School.
Gillespie (28-4) won its 14th game in a row and will face Mater Dei (13-14) in the semifinal round of the Greenville Sectional at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Greenville High.
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Sholtis and Parish combined for five hits. The duo reached base seven times in the contest, which was shortened to five innings by the mercy rule.
The Miners helped erase a 5-4 loss to Staunton in last year's regional title game.
And they did so in impressive fashion.
"We wanted this revenge since they knocked us out and I think we came in confident — but humble," said Parish, a sophomore. "Once we started scoring, it just kept coming."
Parish, who hits in the leadoff spot in the order, had two singles and walked two times. She used her blinding speed to swipe her 26th base of the season without getting caught.
Plus, Parish has set a school record for home runs in a season with nine.
Gipson, who improved to 25-2, feels like this group has the talent to reach the final four for the first time since the team finished second in 1995.
"We have a good group of athletes and we all get along together," Gipson said. "I think we have the potential to make a good run."
Gipson has been grunting her way to success throughout her career. She has fanned 225 batters in 162 innings.
The Southern Illinois University signee is known for her trademark sound in the circle.
"I've always done it," Gipson says. "I want to say it's part of my breathing."
Gipson's noise can be a little unnerving to her opponents.
"They can take it any way they want," Gipson said.
The Miners came out with guns blazing on Saturday morning. They batted around in each of the first two innings on the way to a 10-0 lead.
Parish got the ball rolling with an infield singe and Lauren Bertagnolli reach on a botched sacrifice attempt. Two miscues by the Staunton infield allowed two runs to score. Gipson and Laci Schuckenbrock followed with run-scoring hits.
Sholtis highlighted a four-run uprising in the second with her fifth homer of the season. The long drive to left center cut through a mild wind gust.
"I didn't think I got enough on it," Sholtis said.
Gillespie tallied three times in the fourth inning. Bertagnolli, Sholtis and Gipson all recorded key hits.
The top eight hitters in the lineup got at least one hit. Bertagnolli, Sholtis, Paxton Reid and Luci Schuckenbrock reached base three times each. Wrigley Releford added two singles.
"The atmosphere here is great," Sholtis said. "We work well together."
Staunton (17-6) was coming off an upset win over Roxana in the semifinal round. The Bulldogs managed to scratch across a couple runs after the contest was all but decided. Ele Feldmann drove in a Taylor Nolan in the fourth inning.
"We were ready to go, but we had some mental mistakes in the first inning," Staunton coach Jennifer Abert said. "That put us in a real big hole."
The Miners carry high hopes into the next few weeks thanks to Gipson and an offense that is loaded from top to bottom.
"It's special for a team to work together as well as we do," Parish said. "That's why we think we can go far."
Gillespie has outscored its opponents 128-15 during the 14-game win streak. Its four losses have come against Edwardsville, Freeburg, Pleasant Plains and Stanford Olympia, which are a combined 96-25.
"I think we're ready for whatever challenge comes next," Gipson said.
LITCHFIELD 6, GILLESPIE 0 • The Miners baseball team came up short in an effort to claim two-sport regional titles in the same day.
Litchfield scored five times in the fourth inning to take command in the Gillespie Regional championship game on Saturday afternoon in Gillespie.
Gillespie (23-9) had won 11 of its previous 13 games.
Gillespie baseball coach Jeremy Smith, who is married to Michelle, was looking to win husband-wife regional crowns for the first time since 2022.
