Softball: St. Francis wins 10th consecutive regional championship
Ten straight softball regional titles is quite a feat, but this year's St. Francis squad is hoping to do even more.
The Spartans excelled in all phases while blanking Muchin College Prep 14-0 Friday in Wheaton. After the game several parents and fans took picture after picture of the team and its Class 3A regional championship plaque.
Next up is Tuesday's semifinal of the Benet sectional against Trinity. If the 25-3 Spartans continue to play like they have the last few weeks, the school may just claim its first sectional crown since the 2005 squad won a Class 1A sectional.
"We're definitely ready for the sectional. We're excited," said St. Francis' Riley Banigan, who had a single and a double in her two at-bats against the Mountain Lions (11-3).
Spartans senior Carlee Clark, who has been on varsity since her freshman year, left little doubt she and her teammates would enjoy a fourth regional crown. Clark singled and scored in a 6-run first inning, then topped that with her ninth and 10th home runs of the spring. On top of that, Clark tossed a 5-inning shutout and allowed just two singles in the second inning.
"I felt pretty good on the mound and felt like stuff was working," the Southern Illinois University-bound Clark said. "Me and my catcher (Caroline Caesar) felt good about pitches we were throwing. We were really on the same page about that, which was good."
While the first-inning outburst, which featured a 2-run double from Annika Norman was more than enough support for Clark, St. Francis kept adding runs to win the contest in five innings and improve to 25-3. Clark struck out the side in the fifth while improving to 19-2 this year.
"I'm really excited," said Clark, who went 3-for-4. "I think if we keep it up we really have the potential to go real far so I'm excited. I think all of the team has gotten a whole lot better since the beginning of the year, or for us seniors like since the beginning of our freshman year. It's really cool to see."
Banigan was just one of a few Spartans to come up big at the bottom of the order. No. 9 hitter Kellyn Langton doubled to the wall and scored in the third, and Grace Wanshek doubled and scored after taking over for Banigan in the eighth spot in the order.
"We just wanted to focus on not taking any inning off. Being in it the whole game and staying focused. We were able to score almost every inning which is really important," Banigan said.