Glenbard South captures 30th victory
Glenbard South's players never aspired to a 30-win regular season.
Watching them Monday, it's easy to see how they got there.
In their final tuneup to what they hope is a third straight trip to the state softball tournament, the No. 4 Raiders rocked No. 9 Lake Park 10-1 in Glen Ellyn.
Glenbard South (30-3) batted around in both the second and third innings, putting things out of reach early.
"It just shows that we can compete with a 4A team," said Glenbard South's Jenny Wittenberg, who went 3-for-3 and reached base four times. "Lake Park is a great team. We just hit the ball hard today."
Glenbard South's 30-win regular season is only the second time in school history it's been done, first since 2004.
"It's a huge milestone. It doesn't happen too often - that's for sure," said Raiders coach Julie Fonda. "It's a credit to the girls' perseverance. They just stick with it and continue to play."
The Raiders on Monday excelled at the "little things" that add up to big success. With Lake Park's infield corners playing up expecting a squeeze bunt with one out and a runner at third in the first, Wittenberg instead shot a single down the third-base line to score Brianna Meath. Lake Park tied it 1-1 in the second on an Alyssa Robison squeeze, but when Kelly Mieszala tried another bunt Raiders third baseman Amanda Fazzari faked a throw to first, wheeled around and threw to third to throw out the Lancers lead runner.
In the bottom of the second, Jenny Klich dropped down a perfect squeeze between the mound and first - on a full count - to score Tess DiIorio with the go-ahead run.
"It's softball IQ," Fonda said. "I'm blessed with great kids and great talent. We talk the talk, and they have to execute. They did today."
Klich admitted she thought there was only one strike prior to her bunt. It's all coming up gold in Glen Ellyn these days.
"Amanda told me when I got back in the dugout there were two strikes. I had no idea," Klich said. "Fonda does love to bunt, though."
Two more Glenbard South runs scored on a Lake Park throwing error. A recurring Lancers bugaboo - hitting with runners on base - plagued them Monday. Lake Park (25-9) left runners on second and third in the first inning and the bases loaded in the second.
Carly Willert and Samantha Becker did reach base twice for Lake Park, which opens Class 4A regional play today against Glenbard East.
"We're so close," Lake Park coach Tom Mazzie said, "we're just missing the knockout blow, which is what other teams are getting."
Meath reached base three times and scored 3 runs for Glenbard South. The Raiders' bottom two hitters Hannah Davey and Klich continued their torrid hitting, Davey going 2-for-3 with a double and 2 runs scored and Klich scoring 2 runs and driving in 2.
"I feel like they don't know any better," Fonda said. "Pitchers just lay it in there and they hit it. I'd love to keep them a secret. I guess they're not anymore."