Lightning takes 3rd at USSSA state
The Northern Illinois Lightning women's fastpitch softball team finished in third place over the weekend at the USSSA 18 & over Northern Illinois State Championship in Rockford.
The Lightning went 5-2 for the weekend and after an 0-8-1 start to the season has now won 8 of its last 11 games.
"It's a short summer season and this is a new team for the most part, so it's taken a little while to jell," said Lightning manager John Radtke. "But since we played against some of the top competition in the Midwest in Bloomington the girls have stepped it up and played very well. They play with passion and desire and they are competitive in every game and that's all we ever ask. The wins and losses will take care of themselves."
The Lightning opened the state tournament with two pool play wins, 4-0 over the Southside Shockers and 7-3 over the Girlz of Summer. The team concluded play on Saturday by beating the Wasco Diamonds 8-5 in the opening of bracket play.
On Sunday morning, the Lightning fell to the Northlake Chaos 6-4 to fall into the loser's bracket but then came back and sent home friendly rivals in the Aurora Raiders-Siebert (3-1) and the Illinois Alleycats (5-0). Playing its fourth game of the day and third straight, the Lightning fell to the Chaos 5-0 in the second/third place game. The Chaos went on to lose 8-0 to the Indiana Slammers in the championship game.
The Lightning's strength over the weekend was in the pitchers circle with Lauren Ott (1-1, 0.82 ERA), Alex Lagesse (2-0, 1. 08) and Lindsay Nauman (2-1, 2.06) leading the way.
Offensively, Courtney LaFerle (. 563, 3 doubles, 8 RBI), Ott (. 550, 8 runs), and Lagesse (. 333, 4 RBI) were the leaders. Each of those three made the all-tournament team.
"Each girl on the team contributed to the success but my hat is really off to Courtney LaFerle, who is a true warrior. She caught six of our seven games and had her best weekend hitting this summer.
"After struggling with consistency early in the summer, this weekend we had all three elements - pitching, hitting and defense - all come together nicely."
The Lightning will take on the Chicago Bandits in an exhibition fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research at 7 p.m. Sunday at Judson University. After a Tuesday night doubleheader at Hoosier Grove Park in Streamwood against the Illinois Alleycats, the Lightning will host the eighth annual John Radtke Memorial Fastpitch Classic at the Elgin Sports Complex July 11-12. The tournament features 24 teams from around the Midwest and is the largest non-national women's fastpitch tournament in the nation.
Alleycats fourth at state: The Illinois Alleycats women's fastpitch softball team went 3-3 and took fourth place at the USSSA 18 & Over Northern Illinois State Championship in Rockford over the weekend. The Alleycats split their two bracket games, losing to the Chaos 3-0 then beating Streamline Mowing of Rockford 2-0. Jackie Gill suffered the loss in the opener and Lindsay Decker picked up the win in Game 2. Shay Stipek and Jacqueline Tassone drove in runs in the win. In bracket play, the Alleycats beat the Elgin Heat 2-1 behind the pitching of Kelsey Epping. Kim Lofton had an RBI. The Alleycats then lost to the defending USSSA World Series champion Indiana Slammers 8-0 before rebounding with a 2-1 win over the Aurora Raiders-Fiorito. Epping again got the win while Lofton had a home run and 2 RBI. Katie Williams then had 2 hits for the Alleycats in a 5-0 loss to the Northern Illinois Lightning that eliminated them from the tournament. Even though we didn't score a lot of runs in this tournament our pitching staff was superb and carried us," said Alleycats manager Tom Potter.
Legion second in Champaign: The Elgin American Legion Post 57 baseball team took second place over the weekend in the Champaign Wood Bat Tournament. Post 57 fell to Moline 5-4 in the championship game and is now 17-2 on the season. Prior to the title game, Elgin defeated Logansport, Ind., 7-4, Northbrook 6-2, Decatur 8-2 and Champaign 10-0. Tyler Shore, Dave Hartwell, Luc Geier and Tom Roth picked up the pitching wins. Justin Kalusa and George Heller each had 6 hits in the 4 wins. Jeff Ehlers had 4 RBI and Joe Stace drove in 3 runs for Elgin.