West gets best of East in Fehlman All-Star Game
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With the Fox River in the background winding its way lazily downstream, the careers of 40 or so of the most talented softball players in the suburbs wound to a close at the Eighth Annual Dave Fehlman Memorial Senior All-Star Game held at Judson University in Elgin on Monday.
It was a chance for some of the best softball players in the area to sport a jersey and compete one last time before moving on to college. That chance was meaningful to the players, particularly those whose competitive careers ended with the West team’s 11-5 victory.
w“It’s so weird. I’m going to miss it a lot,” said Ana Peterson, a St. Edward graduate who wants to be a physician’s assistant after she graduates from Butler University. “I really learned the game in high school. Most of these girls learned it growing up, but I took it all in in four years. If you’d asked me freshman year or even last year, I never would have thought I’d be in an all-star game.
“It’s really hard to have it end because I love sports and I love the aspect of being part of a team. I can see myself coaching in the future, so I know it won’t be the end of sports for me. But it’s really hard to think I’ll never step on a field in a jersey playing for my team again. This was awesome.”
The East team took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, thanks to some friend-on-friend crime. Bartlett’s Nicole Beck blasted a 2-run home run off the top of the scoreboard in left field against Jacobs pitcher Marissa Lombardo. The two are currently travel ball teammates for the Northern Illinois Lightning.
“I wasn’t expecting her to hit that, but when she did I wasn’t really that upset,” Lombardo said. “I was more like, ‘Oh, hey, she’s my friend at least.’ I’m glad it was someone I knew.”
“I kind of changed my batting style a little bit and it worked for me,” said Beck, who was named East MVP. “I definitely had a lot of fun when I went up to bat. (The game) was a lot of fun and the girls were really nice. It was amazing.”
The West team answered in the top of the third with a 5-run rally. The game was tied 2-2 when Lake Park’s Vanessa Wegner hit an opposite-field triple to the right field wall, scoring 3 runs to give the West a 5-2 lead.
“I know a lot of people on the other team, so I was a little nervous,” said Wegner, “but we came out and did well against a state runner-up pitcher, so that was pretty good.”
That state runner-up pitcher was none other than Amanda Ciran of St. Charles North, who reflected on the North Stars’ second-place finish last weekend, which included a controversial call at first base.
“It’s definitely a lot better now two days off,” Ciran said of the sting. “I think we’ve all stepped back and said, ‘Ya know, we made it downstate and we made it to the championship game, no matter how it ended. It was just a great experience. I’d go back there in a heartbeat if I could. My teammates made me so proud.”
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