Expect a tighter race in Upstate 8

Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith, feeling fortunate to wade through Week 1 of the Upstate Eight softball season with one win, made this glance into the conference crystal ball.

"Nobody's going 20-0 this year," Wolfsmith said.

Wolfsmith was confident of that after getting slapped around by Neuqua Valley 8-0 and shut out by South Elgin. Bartlett did come back to beat Lake Park to avoid an 0-3 start in the Upstate Eight. Lancers coach Tom Mazzie hated losing to a bitter rival in the bitter cold, but knows the road to a conference title could be littered with more such pot holes.

Solid teams from St. Charles East and St. Charles North, an improved South Elgin club and Neuqua Valley will see to that.

"I was telling my wife, looking at those rankings they're going to go up and down all year," Mazzie said. "It's going to be a dogfight in this league."

Bartlett last year went 20-0, handing Lake Park its only conference losses. Neuqua Valley's statement win over Bartlett in the conference opener perhaps signified that the strangehold those teams have on the top of the league could be over.

"I'd be lying if I said my girls weren't gunning for the conference title," Neuqua Valley coach Michelle Schmidt said. "The conference is wide open. We may very well have a new conference champion that hasn't won it in a few years."

Road trippin' to Ohio: Lake Park's early-season schedule has been no picnic, what with games against Lockport, Oak Park and Bartlett.

The road doesn't get easier this week.

The Lancers and Bartlett will both be traveling to the Wendy's Spring Classic in Ashland, Ohio. Lake Park has games on Friday against Ohio teams Greenville and Hillsdale, and on Saturday against Grove City and Canfield.

"The teams out there, they're softball-saavy," Mazzie said. "They're aggressive and put you in situations you're not always in. It's a totally different ballgame than out here."

Lake Park has enjoyed tremendous success at the event; the Lancers lost just one game there last year. Mazzie said he'd like next year to try to take the team to the ESPN Faster to First Tournament in Huntington Beach, Calif. Sandburg went there this year and Lake Park itself was invited.

"Playing against that kind of competition, it can catch you off guard," Mazzie said, "but it also prepares you. We schedule the toughest teams we can, as many as we can."

Playing under the lights: Weather permitting, Downers Grove North will be hosting Benet tonight at 7:15 p.m. at Downers Grove's Doerhofer Park.

It is one of four night games Downers Grove North has scheduled this year. The Trojans will also be playing Lyons Township, Hinsdale South and York under the lights.

Downers Grove North scheduled three night games last season, playing two, and played one night game each the previous two years.

"It's very rare," Downers Grove North coach Mark Magro said. "The teams love it and we get a lot more fans out to the games."

Magro had the mayor of Downers Grove throw out the first pitch two years ago. This year he's trying to bring in a three-piece band to play.

"This is something that's normal for summer softball," he said, "but totally unusual for high school. It's been a huge success."

Summer teammates, and scouts?: A common sight at high school softball games is opponents mixing it up before and after games. Summer teammates exchanging pleasantries and text messages, wishing each other luck and the winner getting in a few jabs.

Can those relationships hold strategic value?

"Kids know other kids," said Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said, "what pitches they like and what they don't like."

Nussbaum said he tries to prepare for opponents as much as he can, "but we can't have 10 or 11 games scouted."

On the other hand, summer softball teammates can play up to 45 games together.

"At a lesser level, it's kind of like in the majors when a guy has played with somebody for a long time, and then gets traded to another team," Nussbaum said. "We don't have a lot of data out there for a player's tendencies. At the same time, you can't just put on a shift based on what a player tells you. If you do you better be really, really sure about it."