Now Glenbard South putting curse on other teams
At 0-3 to start the season, Glenbard South's softball team gathered in a circle around all of the team's bats and locked pinkies. No goats were harmed in any way, but it's unclear if chanting of some kind occurred.
"We had to uncurse the bats," said Raiders senior Lauren Podgorski. "It sounds cheesy, but the game we did it we beat Glenbard East, and that was our first win of the year."
"I felt more like a sports psychologist this year than a coach," said Raiders coach Julie Fonda.
After starting the season at 1-8, fourth-seeded Glenbard South (23-12) has gone 22-4, and on Saturday the Raiders won 3-2 over No. 2 Riverside-Brookfield (28-9) in a Class 3A sectional title game in Glen Ellyn.
The Raiders will play Trinity in a supersectional game on Monday at Judson University in Elgin.
"We all work hard and we deserve this," said winning pitcher Jess Wilkes. "It wasn't easy, but we're a different team now."
Freshman Brianna Meath went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and sophomore Jennifer Wittenberg had a pair of RBI in the win for the Raiders.
Wilkes entered the game in the third inning and pitched through a few tight jams before ending the game with a strikeout. Riverside-Brookfield had runners on second and third with no outs in the sixth, but Wilkes got a flyout to Podgorski in center field and a pair of groundouts to Amanda Fazzari at third base to preserve a 3-1 Raiders lead.
"Defense is the name of the game. It's going to win it for you or probably lose it for you," Fonda said. "I put a lot of pride into our defense."
"I knew I couldn't do it on my own," Wilkes said. "I knew I had to do it with my team, and I knew they were there behind me. I wanted to do it for my seniors."
Podgorski led off the game with a single, stole second and reached third on a Meath bunt before Wittenberg bunted her in to give Glenbard South a 1-0 lead after an inning.
The Raiders scored twice in the top of the third inning, with Amanda Straka leading off with a double and scoring on a triple by Meath, who crossed the plate on a fielder's choice by Wittenberg.
The Bulldogs made it 3-1 with a third-inning run of their own and scored once more in their final at-bats before Wilkes' final strikeout. Fonda applauded the composure shown by Wilkes and starting pitcher Danielle Chitkowski.
Saturday marked the second consecutive year that the Raiders beat the Bulldogs in a postseason game.
"It was the same situation last year with them - a one-run game," Podgorski said. "But we were confident coming into this game, especially coming in as the underdog. There was no pressure on us, and we were able to just play our game."
Saturday's game was also the second consecutive postseason game that Wilkes entered the game in relief and got the job done.
"Fonda knows best," Wilkes said. "I don't question it. She always knows."