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Softball: Lisle collects third straight regional title

Lisle captured its third consecutive softball regional title with a 22-0, four-inning title game win Saturday over Cristo Rey Jesuit at Lisle High School.

The Lions (10-17), the top seed of subsectional A of the Class 2A Lisle sectional, hit the road, but just a short distance to the south; the Lisle sectional will be played at Benedictine University. Lisle faces the winner of Saturday's Guerin regional final between the hosts and Regina Dominican at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in semifinal play. The Lions have faced neither squad this season.

"In the playoffs we have wanted to take it one game at a time and don't look past anyone," said Lisle coach Trent Schalk. "We have focused all season on trying to get better."

Against the fourth-seeded Cristeras the Lions racked up 13 hits.

"We hit the ball real well. We've been wanting to get our bats going and we've focused on hitting all this season. The girls spread the hits around today and hopefully that will carry to sectionals," Schalk said.

The hits came immediately. Lisle leadoff hitter Jacque Sedlacek put her team on the scoreboard in the first inning with an inside-the-park home run. When the third out of the inning finally came, the Lions had scored 11 more times for a 12-0 advantage.

Sedlacek, a senior, said she and the other seniors just want to make the most of their last postseason.

"We want to do our best and go as far as we can," she said.

Sedlacek hit a 2-run single later in the first and a run-scoring triple in the second.

Other big hits in the first came were Madelyn Smith's 2-run single and Jamie Kaiser's RBI basehit.

Lisle resumed when it left off with seven runs on four hits in the second. In addition to Sedlacek's triple, winning pitcher Amanda Ericson and Abby Casmer each belted 2-run singles and Sam Harmon brought home the final run of the inning on her single.

The run-scoring hits kept coming in the third with Mandy Kaiser's double and singles from Smith and Kaiser.

Ericson threw three perfect, no-hit innings and struck out five. Kaiser finished up in the fourth, setting the Cristo Rey Jesuit lineup down in order and striking out two.

Now Lisle heads for a bigger stage as the postseason rolls on.

"We've played (at Benedictine) once already this season on senior night against Westmont. Playing there gives us a little bit of a leg up, but with the competition we'll face, it'll probably even itself out. We want to go out there and play our best," Schalk said.

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