Rams 'Like a big family'

Abbie Goetsch remembers her first peek at Monika Wedick.

Goetsch peeked through a gym door to get a glimpse of the new pitcher from Evergreen Park who was about to become her new Grayslake Central softball teammate.

"She was pitching in one of the gyms, and I was in the other one," Goetsch said. "Me and one of the seniors last year were looking through a crack in the door. (Wedick) was really good, and (afterward) we were afraid to go up to her and say 'Nice job' or anything because she was so intimidating."

Funny since, if anyone would seem intimidating, it would be the 6-foot-2 Goetsch. Funny because when reminiscing about that day some 15 months ago both Wedick and Goetsch laugh about it. They've become friends.

"We used to joke that, at first, they were scared to talk to me," Wedick said of her teammates. "Now, we're like a big family."

Since arriving from the South Side last spring, Wedick has come a long way, so to speak. She pitched the Rams to a 6-0 shutout of Grayslake North in the two teams' Class 3A regional semifinal Tuesday at Grayslake Central.

The victory gave Grayslake Central (10-24) a split of its four games with Grayslake North (12-19) and earned the Rams a berth in Saturday's 11 a.m. regional final against Lakes.

"We knew we had the potential to beat (Grayslake North)," said Goetsch, who led Grayslake Central offensively with a pair of line-drive singles and an RBI. "It was nice to finally show them what we can do, especially that it's the postseason."

The turning point was the bottom of the first inning. Grayslake North loaded the bases thanks to singles by freshman Brooke Tracy (2-for-4) and sophomore Raquel Ness (2-for-4) and a fielder's choice. But Wedick retired cleanup-hitter Carly Borders on a soft liner to shortstop Tory Dohm, struck out Kristi Gandy and got Jessica Livengood to hit a slicing flyball to right fielder Tayler Janda, who squeezed it for the third out.

"We knew Carly was their biggest hitter and I've pitched against her many times," Wedick said. "I didn't want to give her anything that she could smack out so I pitched inside to her."

The first inning proved to be an omen for Grayslake North, which stranded nine runners on the day.

"We've been talking about execution all year," Knights coach Molly Jones said. "Once we get base runners on and we do our job, we need to do our job to get them to actually score. We just didn't get it done."

Wedick went on to pitch a 7-hitter with 6 strikeouts - a performance that was well-earned for the girl who transferred the second half of her junior year.

"Monika has matured a lot for a kid that came from a different school and showed up right before tryouts last year," Rams coach Abbey Tadelman said. "She's worked a lot on her mental game. She's also been a huge leader for us this season. She knows when it's time to be serious, and she knows when it's time to goof around. She's put so much heart into this game. She's a great kid to coach."

Shannon Sarillo's RBI groundout in the second inning off Knights starter Gandy (5 innings pitched, 2 earned runs) gave Wedick the only run she needed. The Rams added two more in the fifth thanks to run-scoring singles by Goetsch and Rachel Perkowitz.

Goetsch added another hit in a 3-run seventh.

"We wanted the game," Goetsch said. "We showed up ready to play."

Grayslake North will lose only two regulars - first baseman/pitcher Borders and shortstop Sam Fletcher - to graduation.

"The positive is, we have a very young group," said Jones, who also got 2 hits from sophomore Brianna Leon and a double from the freshman Gandy. "The only direction we're going to go next year is up."