Glenbard South pitcher Jill Trzaska strives to improve

There is so much more underneath those sunglasses.

On a bright spring day Jill Trzaska doesn't give it away to a batter just like she does not tip her next pitch. Blank expression and dark shades, all that comes to the plate is arms, long legs and a 60 mph heater.

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So much more lies beneath. So many thoughts. Fears. Lessons learned, lessons repeated.

"Last game this girl slapped an outside pitch to left field for a hit."

"Make sure your arm is fully straightened."

"Two hits are two hits too many."

"Am I good enough?"

This weekend Jill Trzaska will attempt to pitch Glenbard South to the first softball state championship in school history.

The cherry on the sundae of a sugary-sweet senior year.

Trzaska this spring has shattered her own record for strikeouts in a season (247 and counting) and broken the school all-time strikeouts record. Thrown four no-hitters. Allowed 6 earned runs all year while going 20-2 with a 0.28 ERA.

Add those numbers up, and Trzaska is the 2008 Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area softball captain.

Life is perfect, right?

"She is probably out practicing right now," promised Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda on Tuesday, an afternoon after Trzaska led the Raiders past Oak Forest in the supersectional.

She can do better.

Pitch for perfection

Trzaska has always reached high. She fell for softball watching Lisa Fernandez pitch the United States team to the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. Softball lessons started soon after for the 7-year-old.

"I thought, 'When I get older I want to be just like Lisa Fernandez,' " Trzaska said. "She inspired me to be a better pitcher."

Trzaska joined the Wheaton Briarcliffe Jaguars, coached by her dad, Jeff.

Pitching lessons took her to the home of Lisa O'Rear and her fast-pitch softball school in Naperville.

Success did not come overnight. Trzaska had a rough go of it as an 8-year-old playing for an under-10 team. She was mocked for having only one or two pitches, hardly the full repertoire of a superstar pitcher.

Still, she kept doing the right things. Working at the game. Taking lessons once a week at O'Rear's home, in-season and at season's end. Eventually, passing down those lessons to younger girls at O'Rear's school.

Getting better.

"Every single year she got better. That's not easy to do," said O'Rear, still Trzaska's pitching coach 10 years later. "I give her so much respect. She just quietly goes about her business."

To call Trzaska a student of the game would be sports clich#233;. She is inquisitive by nature.

She is dedicated to playing the flute as part of the school band. As a senior, the future physical therapy major at Cornell College in Iowa didn't need to take a math class at Glenbard South.

She signed up for calculus.

On the softball field Trzaska routinely studies the scorebook that her mom, Lisa, keeps. How a batter fared against her last time up. What pitches they hit or missed on.

"If they get a hit off her," Fonda said, "they most likely will not get a second one."

"You really have to be on top of everything all the time," Trzaska said. "I always think I can do better. If I have a shutout and give up 2 hits, I always think I could have had a no-hitter."

Mom and dad do more than keep the book. Jeff Trzaska coached Jill for many years. He goes to coaches' clinics and scouts opposing teams.

More than anything, they support their daughter.

"A lot of kids don't have that, their parents cheering you on," Trzaska said. "It's every kid's dream to have your parents believe in you."

Growing into leader

Fonda and others knew greatness lay within Trzaska. Even as a freshman coming into Glenbard South, lined up behind then standout Raiders pitcher Shannon Roney.

It wasn't always easy to pull Trzaska out of her shell.

Painfully shy, Trzaska always searched for perfection. She wasn't always the most vocal player on the field, either.

As a sophomore, Fonda pulled Trzaska out of a drill and made her sit in the dugout for not communicating. Fellow sophomore Nikki Simpson, now a senior center fielder for the Raiders, sat down right next to her for the same offense.

Fast forward two years. Trzaska the senior now takes sophomore third baseman Amanda Fazzari and freshman second baseman Jennifer Wittenberg under her wing.

She lets them know that she believes in them. Trusts that when the ball is hit their way, plays will be made.

"That's huge for a freshman and sophomore to feel that way," Fonda said. "She has been everything you would want in a senior. I'm so proud of the person she has been. Now she is the one yelling at everybody to talk.

"She has grown as a leader, hands down. That's a fact."

"It's nice to see a shy girl like Jill do so well," O'Rear said, "and express herself through softball. She's made good friends through it."

Perhaps Fonda's biggest thrill of the season, before this week, came April 22 at Yorkville.

Trzaska was 7 strikeouts away from the school's career record. Nobody in the Trzaska house, except her dad, knew how close the record was.

After the record strikeout Raiders catcher Jess Fijolek told Trzaska to throw her the ball "and I'll throw you a new one."

Unaware of the significance, Trzaska went about her business and threw a 10-0 win. Only after the game when Fonda handed her the ball did Trzaska realize.

"To me that was a great moment," Fonda said. "Not only did I get to hand her the ball and say, 'You have a new strikeout record,' she had no idea and was really happy. It was so genuine."

Strikeouts are strikeouts to Trzaska. The season will be complete with two more wins in East Peoria this weekend.

"Our whole team has been dreaming about this the entire season," Trzaska said of playing in the state semifinals. "It's great to finally get down there."

So she gets two more wins this weekend. Or doesn't.

Then the thoughts start again. The search for perfection continues.

"Am I good enough to play in college?"

"Can I play at that level?"

You will never see Jill Trzaska wear over-confidence, let alone cockiness, on her sleeve.

"She has no clue how good she is," O'Rear said. "That keeps her working. I just love that about her."

DuPage All-Area Softball Honorary Captains

bull; 1989 -- Ceci Rettig, Wheaton Central

bull; 1990 -- Angie Webb, West Chicago

bull; 1991 -- Kelly Matthews, West Chicago

bull; 1992 -- Kate Enochs, Benet

bull; 1993 -- Amy Elza, Downers Grove South

bull; 1994 -- Amy Thompson, Downers Grove South

bull; 1995 -- Erin Enzbigilis, Downers Grove South

bull; 1996 -- Marie Barda, Hinsdale South

bull; 1997 -- Marie Barda, Hinsdale South

bull; 1998 -- Mary McGrane, Downers Grove North

bull; 1999 -- Krisi Rossi, Downers Grove North

bull; 2000 -- Amy Krahula, Downers Grove South

bull; 2001 -- Jess Stephens, Glenbard South

bull; 2002 -- Lindsey Veselsky, Glenbard North

bull; 2003 -- Kristy Vanek, Downers Grove South

bull; 2004 -- Stephanie Blagaich, Lake Park

bull; 2005 -- Stephanie Blagaich, Lake Park

bull; 2006 -- Lauren Rohan, Benet

bull; 2007 -- Michelle Batts, Glenbard North