Rosary has big shoes to fill
Not only is Rosary senior Kylie Schalz the best all-around softball player in the Tri-Cities Area, she is probably the only girl in the area with a size 13 shoe.
You read that right -- size 13.
Schalz received national attention last year when she and her feet were featured on The Today Show with Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira in New York City in March.
More Coverage Links The Tri-Cities All-Area Team
The whole thing came about when Robin, Kylie's mom, was on the show's Web site looking for recipes. She saw something in the corner of the page that asked if you had difficulties finding shoes.
Any girl who wears a 10 and above knows the answer to that, so Robin instantly thought of Kylie and responded to The Today Show.
Two days later, they were on a plane to New York. Two days after that, they were featured on the show.
In the end, the 6-foot tall Kylie got a few new pairs of shoes and jeans.
Fortunately for Kylie, her feet are done growing. At least she hopes they are.
"That would be trouble," Schalz said.
What else was trouble? Every time Schalz stepped on the mound. She baffled teams with her ability to strike batters out. She pitched 2 perfect games along with 2 no-hitters and ended up with 253 strikeouts this year.
Her pitching prowess, along with her offensive statistics, were two big reasons why Schalz was named the All-Area captain in the Tri-Cities Area. She is the first player from Rosary to receive the honor.
"She's definitely leaving a legacy at Rosary," Royals coach Tara Tattersall said. "I don't think there will ever be anyone like her there."
Schalz leaves Rosary with 8 varsity letters -- 3 in volleyball (a two-time All-Area selection), 1 in basketball (senior year) and 4 in softball (two-time All-Area). She also was this year's Royal Sportsmanship Award recipient, which goes to a senior who displays leadership, character, responsibility, sportsmanship, dependability, attitude and spirit.
In addition to her strikeout record, she's also the all-time leader in blocks for volleyball.
"The thing that's nice about her is that our younger kids look up to her in all sports," Rosary athletic director Mary Lou Kunold said. "She is what hard work and work ethic is all about."
Hard work in the off-season is what Schalz said is what gave her the ability to finish with the numbers she did, both pitching and hitting.
As a pitcher, she went 13-7, set the school record for strikeouts, walked 16 and had an ERA of 0.85 in 131¿ innings.
"I knew (West Aurora's) Stephanie Becker has been the best pitcher in the area for a while, and I just wanted to keep up with her," Schalz said of the last year's All-Area captain, who finished with 200 strikeouts this year. "My goal was to stay with her in strikeouts because she's been so dominant."
"(Kylie) was so dominating on the mound, and her and (catcher) Andi (DeKing) worked well together," Tattersall added.
As a hitter in 29 games, Schalz scored 12 runs, had 28 hits, 5 doubles, 4 triples, 1 home run, 32 RBI, a slugging percentage of .667, batting average of .538, an on-base percentage of .570 and struck out just 7 times in 93 at-bats.
"It was really nice to have such a dependable hitter," Tattersall said.
Other area coaches agreed Schalz was one of the best around.
First-year Aurora Central coach Claude Ainsworth saw it the most, as Schalz stuck out the Chargers 35 times in two games, including a season-high 18 against Rosary's biggest rival.
"She was the class of the conference, heads and tails above everyone else," Ainsworth said of Schalz, who helped the Royals win the Suburban Catholic Conference for the first time since the 2003 season. "I'm glad she's graduating."
Batavia and coach Leon Pedraza faced the Royals early in the season and beat them. Still, the first-year coach was impressed.
"She's excellent and has very good control," Pedraza said. "She hits her locations when she needs to. We were fortunate to come out on top with her on the mound."
There's plenty of more softball left in Schalz' future, as she is heading to Oakland University, a Division I school in Michigan.
"It's going to be so different," Schalz said. "It seems like I've been at Rosary forever. It hasn't really hit me that I'm never going to be here again."
There is no doubt future Royals have some big shoes to fill -- size 13 to be exact.
Past captains
1998: Kristyn Ludvik, St. Charles
1999: Kristyn Ludvik, St. Charles
2000: Shannon Pedersen, Geneva
2001: Sarah Goedken, Kaneland
2002: Sarah Carlson, Geneva
2003: Petra Wade, Batavia
2004: Jessica Heimann, Kaneland
2005: Kelsey Ruitenberg, Geneva
2006: Christy Engel, St. Charles North
2007: Stephanie Becker, West Aurora