Coaches Association to host state tournament
The Illinois High School Tennis Coaches Association will host its inaugural state team tennis tournament this weekend.
According to IHSTCA president Kelly Willard of Metamora, "The coaches association has been working to add a team event to the great individual tournament that is played at the end of the season. We have worked hard with the Illinois High School Association to create this event. We are running four team state tournaments this summer to show that it is possible. Our goal is for the IHSA to see the success of these events and to decide to add some form of a team tournament to the current state format."
The IHSTCA divided the field into two classes for boys and girls teams. The field was divided with an exact 50 percent split of the teams that were entered into the state tournament series. The split for the boys teams was at 1,633 students enrolled. The girls split was around 1,550.
The top eight teams for Class A and AA were invited to participate in the team event. Teams were chosen based on points earned at the state tournament and the number of state qualifiers.
The Class A tournaments were held June 13-14 in Peoria. The girls tournament was won by Effingham St. Anthony by defeating Metamora in the finals. The boys tournament for Class A was won by Metamora. Metamora defeated Springfield in the semifinals and then defeated Chicago Payton in the final match.
The Class AA tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Deerfield High School with some matches at Highland Park High School.
The girls tournament field includes Hinsdale Central, New Trier, Prairie Ridge, Barrington, Lake Forest, Highland Park, Downers Grove South and Glenbrook North.
The girls tournament kicks off with 9 a.m. matches Friday with New Trier vs. Hinsdale Central at Deerfield. That match is followed by Prairie Ridge vs. Barrington. Lake Forest will take on Highland Park at 9 a.m. at Highland Park. That match will be followed by Downers Grove South vs. Glenbrook North.
Boys teams that have committed to be play include New Trier, Highland Park, Oak Park River Forest, Warren, Rockford Guilford and Deerfield. Boys matches will also begin at 9 a.m. Friday at both Deerfield and Highland Park high schools.
Semifinal matches will be played at Deerfield on Friday. The championship matches will be played at Deerfield on Saturday at 2 p.m. The consolation championship and the third-place matches for both the boys and girls tournaments will be played before the championship.
All tennis enthusiasts are invited to come watch the tennis. There will be no charge for these IHSTCA tennis team state championships.
"We recognize that this is not the perfect solution," said Warren coach Greg Cohen, a past IHSTCA president. " We know that we will have some teams that cannot play (Hinsdale Central, Stevenson boys). We know that we will be missing some of the top players. Our goal is to let our teams have a great time playing a team event. We believe that when we show that this will work then future team events will be better and better."
Illinois HoopStars camp: Illinois HoopStars, with University of Illinois men's basketball coach Bruce Weber, will hold a basketball skills camp July 1-3 from 9 a.m.-noon each day at the College of Lake County in Grayslake.
Former Chicago Bull Dickey Simpkins will be a special guest. The three-day camp will teach the fundamental skills of passing, ballhandling, shooting, defense and offensive footwork, and conclude with competitive team play.
The camp is for girls and boys grades five-eight (incoming freshmen).
Cost is $85 per player, with a $10 buddy discount if camper signs up with a buddy. Buddy's name must be included on the registration form.
Each camper should bring a towel and his/her own water bottle. Each camper is encouraged to bring a basketball to camp.
Recent Warren graduate Sarah Boothe, Illinois Ms. Basketball who will play for Stanford, will be there to help teach basketball skills.
Coaches are needed.
To download a printable registration form, please visit HoopStars' Web site at www.ilsportsacademy.com. For more information, please contact director of operations Lynda Paul at (847) 855-4509 or e-mail her at hoopstars-lyndapaul@hotmail.com.
LHS volleyball alumni wanted: Libertyville High School and coach Chris Trzyna invites all past girls volleyball varsity players and assistant coaches for an alumni night on Friday, Oct. 17. Libertyville will play Buffalo Grove at 6 p.m. in the Butler Lake Gym. Immediately following the game, there will be efreshments in the school cafeteria.
Please e-mail Coach Trz at chris.trzyna@d128.org or call (847) 327-7064 and leave a message if you are able to attend. Please RSVP to plan for the refreshments.
Coach Trzyna will be entering her final season as girls volleyball head coach. Over her 22-year coaching career, Trz has compiled a 582-226 record. During that time, her teams have won 14 IHSA regional championships and last season the team finished fourth in the Class 4A state tournament.
Liberty wins another title: The Lake County Liberty, 18U team of the Lake County Fastpitch Softball Association, continued its winning ways by sweeping the Glen Ellyn Invitational at Ackerman Park in Glen Ellyn.
Fresh off its first-place bracket finish in the Pennsbury Invitational college exposure tournament, where it won all five of its games, the Liberty went 6-0 to claim the Glen Ellyn tournament championship. Lake County, one of the top-ranked 18U teams in the country according to GirlsSoftballRankings.com, outscored the opposition 45-7 in the weekend tournament.
The Liberty opened the tournament by whipping the Park Ridge Pistols 8-0 on a 2-hit shutout by Emily Ott (Maine West). Ott struck out 10 without allowing a walk. The offense was paced by 2 RBI each by Lindsay Callanan (Antioch) and Hannah Karstedt (Lakes). Alex Booker (Warren) swiped 4 bases and scored 3 runs for the victors, and Maddie Tropp-Bluestone (Glenbrook North) doubled and drove in a run.
Courtney Ryan (Carmel) got the win in Game 2 by beating the Palatine Vikings 7-5, as Megan Iles (McHenry West) chipped in with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
The Liberty jumped on top with 5 runs in the first inning on hits by Booker, Ott, Missy Green (New Trier) and a 2-run single by Jessi Borre (Lake Zurich). Borre later doubled and scored. Tropp-Bluestone went 2-for-2 with a double. Ott also doubled and drove in a pair of runs.
The Liberty completed pool play by polishing off the Oak Lawn Diamonds 8-1 on a 4-hit gem by Green. Lake County tallied 6 consecutive hits and 4 runs to start the game and rolled to victory. Callanan went 3-for-3 with 2 doubles, 2 stolen bases, 2 runs scored and an RBI. Maggie O'Brien (Cary-Grove), Green and Iles each had 2 hits. Dani Gore (Hersey), Ryan, and Karstedt drove in runs and Booker had 3 stolen bases.
Sunday bracket play began with the top-seed Liberty besting the Elmhurst Edge in a 14-0 romp on a no-hitter by Ryan. Lake County jumped on the Edge for 6 runs in the first and 8 runs in the second inning. Seven Liberty players drove in runs, including 3 RBI by Green and 2 apiece by Maddie Riordan (Lakes) and Borre.
In the semifinal game, the Liberty shot past the St. Charles Comets 7-1 while rapping out 13 hits. Ott pitched a 1-hitter, using her drop ball to induce 12 groundouts. Ott also had 2 hits and an RBI, as Callanan and Green drove in 2 each. Booker had 3 hits, scored 2 runs, and pilfered 2 bases. O'Brien contributed 2 hits and scored twice. Second baseman Jenna Depa (Maine West) flashed her defensive skills and displayed her range in the field by recording 7 assists and 2 putouts.
The victory earned the Liberty a place in the tournament championship game against the Vernon Hills Stingers, setting the stage for a classic pitcher's duel between two of the top hurlers in the state, the Liberty's Ott and the Stingers' Katie Buczynski (Lake Zurich). Both pitchers battled the opposition as well as the weather as the game was halted twice by rain delays.
But the intensity never dampened. Buczynski held the hot Liberty bats to 2 hits through the first six innings. In the fourth, she showed her toughness by taking a scorching line drive by Tropp-Bluestone off her left shoulder, but refused to leave the game despite almost being knocked off her feet by the blast.
Finally, with the game scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, Callanan led off with a single to center and was bunted to second by Ott. Green then ripped a one-strike fastball up the middle for a walk-off single that scored Callanan and gave the Liberty a hard-fought 1-0 victory and the championship trophy.
Ott, who gave up only a two-out fourth inning single to Kelli Gerli (Carmel), struck out eight and walked none in logging her third complete-game win, second consecutive 1-hitter, and second shutout of the tournament.
Ott and Buczynski were awarded their respective team's MVP plaques for their title game efforts. In 20 innings pitched, Ott struck out 25, walked none, gave up 1 run on 4 hits, and posted a miniscule 0.35 ERA.