Softball: DuPage County All-Area captain Medina finishes high school hitting blistering .578; next stop, Northwestern

What more can be said about recent Glenbard North graduate and softball standout Tru Medina?

“She’s the best player I have ever seen,” said the father of one prominent DuPage County player headed to a Division I university next year.

“You couldn’t put a ball on a tee and put up those numbers,” another area high school and travel softball observer noted.

Glenbard North coach Josh Sanew didn’t mince words either about the Panthers’ elite shortstop who is the captain of the 2025 Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area softball team for a second year in a row, emerging with the award out of a talent-rich county filled with elite scholarship players.

“Tru is the best shortstop in the state,” Sanew said. “She has an unbelievable glove, has amazing range and the strongest arm I have ever seen from shortstop. Her awareness of the game separates her from others. She wants to make every play and she is the best around.”

And that’s Sanew talking only about her spectacular defense!

Let’s not forget the Northwestern University-bound Medina, who wants to study psychology and become a sports psychologist, also hit .578 (not a typo) with 34 extra-base hits, including 14 doubles, 4 triples, 16 homers and 41 RBI. Her slugging percentage was 1.422 and she was on base 64% of the time she had a stick in her hand. Medina also walked 16 times and stole 10 bases.

She leaves North a career .497 hitter with 86 extra-base hits (36 doubles, 10 triples, 40 home runs), 149 RBI, 46 steals and 62 walks.

“Tru’s batting average and home run total stand out,” Sanew said. “This is a player who has started on the varsity all 4 years. She has been known since her freshman year and all teams try to pitch around her. That being said, she has put up huge numbers and production-wise has gotten better every year.”

Or as North senior outfielder Alyssa Abderhalden put it, “There is no part of the game she struggles with.”

And some more from Sanew: “If you ask any coach, watching her play is amazing and they were all very happy she was finally a senior. Tru is the greatest softball player I have ever seen play. She can do it all.”

Medina, who sported a 4.2 grade-point average and earned straight As both semesters this past school year, feels her biggest movement forward came in the leadership department.

“I got better at communicating with teammates and really focusing on teammates instead of just me,” she said. “I was better at supporting and uplifting my teammates. I didn’t stress about my own things as much and that helped my performance. I wasn’t stressing over anything at all.”

Glenbard North senior first baseman Alexis Frcek has known Medina for more than a decade and marvels at her leadership abilities.

“Tru is a great leader and person,” she said. “I’ve seen her be a leader on and off the field and it’s easy for others to look up to her. She’s always been very humble, polite and absolutely hilarious. It’s impossible to not like Tru Medina.”

Frcek recalled a story where Medina got her wisdom teeth pulled and “was still doozy from the medications,” she said. “She sent me a video on Snapchat of herself telling me how much she appreciates me as a friend along with how she felt super goofy from the medicine. I was cracking up watching it, but it meant a lot to me knowing that even when she might not be her full self in the moment because of the medications that she still managed to show her love for others and was able to brighten their day.”

Sanew added: “Tru is an amazing kid. She is a leader both on the field and in the classroom. She is a team player first. She leads the team and makes sure everyone is calm and relaxed. She is one of the great people/athletes I have ever coached. She pushes herself and her teammates to be their best. She is a very special athlete you don’t get to see a lot. She is one of the greatest teammates I have seen.”

Medina, an 2025 ICA all-state first-team selection, said she’s fortunate to put up the numbers she did given the insanely competitive conference the Panthers play in (DuKane) where the sixth-place team (St. Charles East) had a .500 record in conference and went on to win a Class 4A sectional title. Glenbard North and St. Charles North shared the title with 4 losses each.

“There definitely were more pitchers on teams in the conference who were really good, had really good spin and a lot of good speed,” Medina said. “A lot of them improved so much and the new ones who came up were tough to adjust to. Every player in the conference is tough and good competition.”

Medina noted that while bigger things are ahead for her, she will miss the Glenbard North softball program.

“It’s such a family environment,” she said. “The whole team was so close and such good friends. I will miss the camaraderie on the field. And with the coaches it’s one big family. Our bond was pretty amazing.”

Medina said she wants to be remembered as someone who uplifted her teammates and as someone who was always happy to play the game. “And never got too stressed or angry about a bad performance,” she said. “I want to be known as someone who was kind to other teammates and always tried her best to make them love the game as much as I do.”

Medina, who is wrapping up her travel career this summer with the Virginia Glory team, already is doing her Northwestern workout program and is looking forward to playing at the next level.

“I’m a little nervous,” she said. “I know it will be a much harder adjustment and I will have to work much harder. I am ready to work hard for it. It will be really hard, but I am ready for it. Growing up, I never knew about Division I softball or even college softball. I was playing because I enjoyed it. I never realized I could become good until freshman and sophomore year and then it was, “Wow! I can actually play this at a high collegiate level. I never expected for myself to make it this far. I am really proud.”

Sanew thinks Medina will make a big impact in college.

“Tru has a great chance to go and produce huge numbers at the next level,” he said. “Tru can hit any pitching and defensively she will make an impact right away. With Tru’s ability to hit for power from both sides of the plate or even slap, it makes her lethal when at bat. Northwestern is getting one of the best players in the softball world. She will instantly make an impact at the college level because her skills are above her peers.”

“We will totally be hearing the name Tru Medina a lot the next few years,” Abderhalden said.