Scouting the softball postseason
Class 4A Schaumburg sectional
Regional hosts: Willowbrook, Rolling Meadows, Geneva, Bartlett
Top seeds: Bartlett, Lake Park, Elk Grove, St. Charles North
Darkhorses: West Chicago, Glenbard South, Glenbard North
Outlook: Bartlett (26-5) will begin its quest for a second straight trip to East Peoria in one of the toughest sectional complexes around. Any of the top 8 seeds have a realistic chance to come out of this field but the Hawks are the top seed and the favorite to advance. They will open postseason play in their own regional on Tuesday against the winner of Monday's game between No. 17 Hoffman Estates and No. 16 Batavia. A win on Tuesday would put the Hawks in the regional title game against the winner of Wednesday's clash between No. 8 Glenbard North and No. 9 St. Charles East. A scheduled nonconference game against Glenbard North was rained out but the Hawks beat St. Charles East twice, one of those times earlier this week when Bartlett senior pitcher Lauren Wydra (16-2, 0.88 ERA, 198 strikeouts) no-hit the Saints and struck out 15. "We've played them twice and they're a solid team," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith of the Saints. "They've got good hitters and good pitchers." Glenbard North, despite its 14-10 record, would also be a formidable foe with top pitcher Hannah Santora leading the way. "Santora is battle-tested," Wolfsmith said. "That DuPage Valley (Conference) is loaded up and down. And if we played Glenbard North it would be a little bit of a rivalry game because they're so close to us. You look at Glenbard North as an eight seed and realize how tough this sectional is. Every game will be a challenge. Because we've gone to four classes, nothing's easy anymore." Bartlett's offense has been in high gear lately. The Upstate Eight champs are led by junior catcher Elizabeth Kay .461, 7 HRs, 35 RBI), Wydra (.383, 26 RBI) and sophomore SS/P Callie Dennison (.366, 17 RBI, 9-1, 2.03 ERA). "We're playing real well," Wolfsmith said of his team, ranked No. 2 in the latest Daily Herald Top 20. "Lauren threw as well against St. Charles East as I've seen her throw all year, we're hitting the ball with a lot of confidence up and down the lineup and we're playing sharp defensively." Wolfsmith says the sectional field as a whole is "brutal" and with Lake Park, Elk Grove and St. Charles North all quality teams he isn't far off. Then there's West Chicago, the No. 5 seed but a team that won the DVC title and is 17-8; Glenbard South, one of the top Class 3A teams in the state at No. 6, and No. 7 seed Prospect, which has been a tough team in the Mid-Suburban League all season. Wolfsmith pointed out that last year his team lost to Lake Park (20-4) twice in the regular season before coming back to beat the Lancers in the sectional title game. "I'm sure they're thinking about that," Wolfsmith said of Lake Park. The winner of the Schaumburg sectional won't have an easy final task on the road to East Peoria. The Schaumburg winner will advance to the Benedictine supersectional to meet the winner of the Bolingbrook sectional, where the top four seeds are Plainfield Central, Lockport, Downers Grove South and Naperville Central. Downers South beat Bartlett in the Elite Eight last year and with supersectionals now being the Elite Eight, that matchup could happen again this season.
Class 4A Machesney Park Harlem sectional
Regional hosts: Streamwood, Rockford Guilford, McHenry, Jacobs
Top seeds: South Elgin, Rockford Boylan, McHenry, Jacobs (see explanation below)
Darkhorses: Harlem, DeKalb
Outlook: Jaocbs (24-3), on paper at least, would be the heavy favorite to advance out of this sectional field, which is made up of four pre-assigned regionals instead of the sectional complex system used in the counties immediately surrounding Chicago. The Golden Eagles will host a regional that's actually a mini-Fox Valley Conference tournament, with Crystal Lake South, Cary-Grove, Dundee-Crown and Prairie Ridge also in the field. Jacobs opens regional play on Tuesday against the winner of Monday's game between D-C and PR. South and Cary-Grove meet on Wednesday. "We've been playing well lately," said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. "We just have to continue our offensive production and let our pitchers throw with some confidence. That's been our recipe for success and we just have to keep it up." The Golden Eagles, who last won a regional in 2005, are led by senior SS Lauren Arceneaux (.557, 4 HRs, 22 RBI) and senior 3B Lizzie Andrews (.471, 2 HRs, 40 RBI), who recently broke her own school record for RBI in a season. In the circle, senior Becky Wilson (10-2, 0.91 ERA) and freshman Kara Arceneaux (11-1, 0.35) have carried the pitching load all season for the FVC Valley champs. Bauer is well aware that there is a bull's eye on his team's back. "We've played three of these teams three times and we've played Prairie Ridge," Bauer said. "Everyone knows we're going to have to bring our best game." CL South (15-9) is the No. 2 seed. The Gators, decimated by injury this season, are led by 2B Becky Yaworski (.339), junior OF/P Emily Mahoney (.320, 7-0, 1.13 ERA) and senior P Jessica Gable (8-9, 1.40 ERA). No. 3 seed Cary-Grove (14-13) is paced by senior CF Maggie O'Brien (.360) and Prairie Ridge (17-9), one of the hottest teams around, is led by senior Keri Rankin (.556). At the Streamwood regional, Elgin and Larkin, after playing each other in the regular-season finale on Saturday, will meet up in the play-in game at Larkin on Monday. The Maroons and Royals are a combined 7-41 this season, so a postseason win against their rival will make the season for the winner of Monday's game. Larkin has gotten a stellar season from senior 2B/3B Ellis Hatchett (.403) while Elgin's Caris Alan is hitting .395. South Elgin (17-9), the top seed in the regional, will play the Elgin-Larkin winner on Tuesday. "We've had some success against Larkin and Elgin," said Storm coach Jason Schaal, whose team plays Elgin today after beating the Maroons 9-1 earlier in the season. "We're going to be sure we're prepared for whoever it is. Tuesday is go-time. You can't have success in the regular season and not carry it into the postseason. A regional is not enough for us this year." The Storm has been led all season by juniors Lauren Vitiello (.548, 6 HRs 31 RBI) and Kim Pierce (.507, 7 HRs, 37 RBI) and freshman Katelyn Stonecipher (.354). South Elgin also could be boosted by the possible return of senior SS Stephanie Sanocki (.316), who has been out the last few weeks with a broken toe. In the circle, Schaal says senior Rebecca French (9-4, 2.53 ERA) is healthy and ready to go. Streamwood (7-17), led by senior P Barb Posinger, will meet DeKalb (15-9) in the other semifinal. The Barbs beat Streamwood 1-0 recently but also played top-ranked Burlington Central to a scoreless tie for 13 innings earlier this week before losing 1-0 on a wild pitch. DeKalb is led by junior P Lisa Oller, who struck out 16 against BC. The winner at Harlem will play in the NIU supersectional hosted by Elgin High against the winner of the Barrington sectional. The top seeds at Barrington are Barrington, Fremd, Lake Zurich and Palatine.
Class 3A Rochelle sectional
Regional hosts: Yorkville, Rock Falls, Belvidere, Rosary
Top seeds (by regional): LaSalle-Peru, Sterling, Freeport, Burlington Central
Darkhorses: Streator, Kaneland
Outlook: Top-ranked Burlington Central (25-1) enters postseason play with high expectations after winning a Class AA regional last year and taking Lake Park to the limit in the sectional semifinals. "We just have to take it one game at a time," said Rockets coach Scot Sutherland. "You can't get caught looking ahead because there is no tomorrow. We just have to take whoever we get Tuesday and then go from there." The Rockets are in the Rosary regional, where they will play on Tuesday against the winner of Monday's game between No. 4 Aurora Central and No. 5 IMSA. The regional title game would be against either Kaneland (17-7) or Rosary, both teams with decent pitchers. BC, which plays Plainfield South and Lemont today in the Stone City Jamboree in Minooka, has been led this season by junior SS Kayla Oranger (.526, 22 RBI, 32 SBs) and senior CF Brooke Porto (.423, 19 RBI), but the Rockets' forte is pitching, where senior Erica Maisto (13-0, 0.18 ERA) and junior Mackenzie Scott (11-1, 0.49, 190 Ks) lead the way. Sutherland says he's doing everything necessary to make sure his Big Northern East champs don't put themselves on too high a pedestal coming into the postseason. "Rankings mean nothing except the last one at the end of the year," Sutherland said. "Press clippings do you no good. No matter what your record is you can get beat anytime and I think our kids understand that." On the other side of the bracket, if the Rockets can win the regional, they would meet the Belvidere regional winner in the semifinals. A sectional final matchup would then loom with potential opponents being either LaSalle-Peru (23-1, ranked No. 2 in the ICA state poll) or Streator (22-8, No. 6). The Rochelle sectional winner advances to the ISU supersectional to play the Metamora sectional champ. The top regional seeds at Metamora are Rock Island Alleman, Bloomington, Metamora and Bartonville Limestone.
Class 3A Richmond-Burton sectional
Regional hosts: Grayslake North, Marengo, Chicago Amundsen, Antioch
Top seeds: Vernon Hills, Marengo, Johnsburg, Marian Central
Darkhorses: Huntley, Antioch
Outlook: Huntley (19-8) carries the fifth seed into this sectional complex that is made up of teams from Woodstock to Chicago but one where fourth-ranked Vernon Hills (27-4) looks to be the favorite to advance. Huntley opens play at the Grayslake North regional on Wednesday against the host team. No. 4 Marian Central and top pitcher Heather Gradishar, and Regina Dominican meet on Tuesday. Huntley has been led this season by C Jenna Mychko (.453, 3 HRs, 25 RBI) and Deanna DeBosschere (.365, 16 RBI). Pitcher Sam Clemons has had a stellar season, going 15-5 with a 1.86 ERA. Richmond will also host a supersectional with the winner of the Trinity sectional making the trip north. The top seeds at Trinity are Trinity, Fenton, Elmwood Park and Guerin.