Glenbard South shows its strength
EAST PEORIA — Julie Fonda's natural instinct screamed squeeze bunt.
Jane Trzaska had grander ideas.
Trzaska's go-ahead 3-run homer in the sixth inning — after a fouled bunt attempt — rallied Glenbard South past Bethalto Civic Memorial 8-4 in Saturday's Class 3A third-place game at EastSide Centre.
“When I came off the field my assistant coach told me, ‘Aren't you glad that bunt went foul?'” Raiders coach Fonda said, “and I said, ‘Yes I am.
“The ball went foul, that's great. She hit the home run. Even better.”
In the 3A championship Marengo — a team Glenbard South run-ruled 10-0 in April — scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to beat LaSalle-Peru 1-0 for the Indians' first state title.
Glenbard South's softball trophy is its third in four years, the first DuPage County school to accomplish that. The Raiders' third place matched its best finish, from 2008.
Coincidentally, Trzaska's older sister Jill also homered in that tournament.
Glenbard South (29-6) dropped into the third-place game with a 7-5 loss to LaSalle-Peru, beaten on Jennie Laio's sixth-inning homer. The Raiders were in danger of being bitten by the long ball again Saturday. Kayla Kirkpatrick's 2-run homer in the bottom of the fifth gave Bethalto (30-7) a 4-3 lead.
“My kids are resilient,” Fonda said. “They did what it takes and my seniors did a great job of leading. (Senior catcher) Jackie (Wrona) was phenomenal. She has all heart and wasn't going to let this game slip away. The kids around her followed her lead.”
Hannah Davey, who was 2-for-2 and reached base three times, walked on a full count to start the Raiders' sixth. Jenny Wittenberg whistled a single past the third baseman, and after a pop-out up came Trzaska.
The Raiders sophomore bunted foul for the second strike, then drilled Kirkpatrick's 2-2 pitch for a high fly that carried over the fence in center. Trzaska's homer was the sixth hit in five games in East Peoria. Four of the first fives games were decided by go-ahead blasts in the sixth or seventh.
“When I didn't get that bunt down I was a little bummed,” Trzaska said, “but I told myself ‘I still got another strike, I can still get the runs in.' I just wanted to put a good swing on it and it just kept going.”
It was also the fifth homer of the year for Trzaska, hitting .542 heading into the weekend. She had a 30-game hit streak snapped in the sectional final, and in her last at-bat prior to the homer went the opposite way to double in Danielle Chitkowski for a 3-1 lead in the fourth.
“I've never seen a kid work so much so hard throughout the season as Jane,” said Wittenberg, Trzaska's hitting partner. “She's just grown so much this year.”
Glenbard South tacked on 2 runs in the seventh. Lisa Barth and Brianna Meath walks sandwiched around two sacrifice bunts brought up Wittenberg, who lined Kirkpatrick's first offering into center for a two-run single.
Wittenberg, the lone starter on all three Raiders state teams, had 3 singles and reached base five teams in the two games. Fonda admitted “she didn't want to let go” hugging her shortstop in the medal presentation line.
“She's a kid kind of after my own DNA,” Fonda said. “She gets after it and knows what it takes. But above all, she's just a wonderful character kid.”
Glenbard South also graduates its senior battery of Jess Wilkes and Wrona, but the cupboard is hardly bare. The Raiders return seven starters from Saturday's game. Six of the team's eight hits were by underclassmen.
“They're all so good,” Wittenberg said, “and there's a lot of young kids coming up. They have all that experience now and they can say they've been to state now. Hopefully, they'll remember me.”