Liberty claims title
Fresh off its title in the USSSA Northern ICE Summer Celebration Championship, the Lake County Liberty, 18U travel team of the Lake County Fastpitch Softball Association, continued its winning ways by capturing the 24th annual Oak Lawn Senior Tournament.
The Liberty went 6-0-1 and outscored the competition 41-8. Held at multiple sites in Oak Lawn, the Oak Lawn tournament is the longest running one in the Chicago area and featured a field of 19 top teams.
Pool play started for the Liberty with a game against the host Oak Lawn Ice. Picking up where she left off in the previous tournament, Liberty pitcher Amanda Daly (Johnsburg) froze Ice batters with a 60-plus mph fastball and deceptive changeup, leading the Liberty to a 9-0 victory.
Ryleigh Sears (Zion-Benton) led the team with a 3-for-3, 4-RBI effort, including a triple and 2 stolen bases. Also going 3-for-3 with a triple was Emily Ott (Maine West). Jackie Kisman (Crystal Lake Central), Megan Gier (McHenry), Sara Jacobson (Jacobs) and Maddi Tropp-Bluestone (Glenbrook North) all had 2 hits apiece. Kisman, Illinois-recruit Alex Booker (Warren) and Jenna Depa (Maine West) each had an RBI and a stolen base. Nikki Ramsay (McHenry) and Maddie Riordan (Lakes) also added hits.
The Liberty then played a 3-3 tie against the Bartlett Silver Hawks, the defending ASA Northern National champions. Sears went 2-for-2, while Booker, Kisman, Jacobson and Missy Green (New Trier) also had hits for the Liberty.
The Liberty was able to get in its third pool game before the Saturday rains hit, beating the New Lenox Power 6-0 behind another Daly 2-hit shutout. Ott led the way offensively, belting a double and a booming first-inning homer that cleared the right field fence by 25 feet. Shannon Lauret (Zion-Benton) rocked a two-run double and Daly also laced a two-base hit. Jacobson and Tropp-Bluestone, who will be playing for Ivy League Brown University next year, chipped in with hits as well, as did catcher Gier.
Sunday's championship bracket play began with the Liberty smoking the Lemont Sizzlers 8-0. In her first complete game pitching appearance since she pulled a back muscle in spring high school ball, Ott was masterful in the circle for the Liberty, hurling a 1-hitter. Booker, Kisman, and Ott had 2 hits apiece, while Kisman, Ott, and Riordan each drove in a pair. Lauret also doubled and added an RBI.
The Liberty followed up with a 4-2 win over the Elk Grove Heat, coming from behind in the bottom of the sixth as time was expiring. Trailing 2-0 going into what would be their last at-bat, the Liberty erupted for four runs to cool off the Heat.
Daly earned the win. Booker and Green each had 2 hits, and Lauret belted another double.
In the semifinal matchup against the LT Blazers, Ott once again was strong in the circle and led the Liberty to an 8-2 win. Lauret went 3-for-3 with a triple, while Tropp-Bluestone singled, doubled and drove in two. Depa, who recently signed on to play with Trinity International University, was 2-for-2 with a run scored and a stolen base. Booker and Jacobson also had 2 hits apiece.
The Liberty capped the tourney by polishing off the Oak Lawn Diamonds 3-1 behind Daly's 2-hitter.
Facing the hometown Diamonds was nothing new for the Liberty, which bested the Diamonds on Ott's grand slam in last summer's ASA Chicago Metro Tournament on the way to the Liberty's third-place finish. Ott once again played long ball with a first-inning double and scored on Daly's two-run single to right. Daly added another RBI single in the third, scoring Booker.
AYB seeks teams: The American Youth Basketball Tour is still accepting teams for its boys and girls youth basketball tournament in Belvidere/Boone County July 11-12.
The five-game guarantee event is only $275 and will be held at Belvidere North and North Boone high schools. The tournament is for boys and girls teams in 5th-11th grades (grades completed 2008-09). Teams from Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois will compete in the wood floor, air-conditioned facilities. If you are interested in registering your team, please contact director Brian Evans at (847) 837-1848 or by e-mail at blb2003@xsite.net, or you can go online at www.aybtour.com. No teams will be allowed in the tournament without registration fees being paid before the tournament begins.