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Glenbard South 2, DeKalb 1

Glenbard South might as well add a bull's eye to its softball uniforms this season, especially when it comes to conference games.

After going 14-0 in the Western Sun last year and being the favorite in Class 3A this year, the Raiders know opponents really want to knock them off.

"I kind of like it," senior shortstop Emily Braem said. "We want to win (conference), and we want to take it downstate."

Facing a team showing no fear, the Raiders didn't blink, scratching out 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 2-1 league victory against DeKalb on Thursday in Glen Ellyn.

"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, I guess, but I'd rather be good. We got lucky," Raiders coach Julie Fonda said.

"DeKalb came out swinging the bats, and there was no fear in their eyes. They played like they wanted to beat us."

DeKalb (5-3, 1-2) scored quickly off Raiders ace Jill Trzaska. Carlie Varga led off the game with a bunt single, stole second, was sacrifice bunted to third and scored on a two-out wild pitch.

That just seemed to make Trzaska mad. She held DeKalb to just 4 hits on the day and struck out 16 to run her record to 5-1.

"You could see it in her eyes after that inning that she was bearing down," Fonda said. "She was going to throw the ball hard and hit her spots. Jill, you can see her face change and you don't have to say anything to her. You let her go."

"We knew what we were going to face," DeKalb coach Jeff Davis said. "Trzaska, she's awesome."

For five innings DeKalb pitcher Lisa Oller held her ground too, but the Raiders (9-2, 2-0) finally beat her in the sixth.

Trzaska reached base on a throwing error, with Carrie Asselmeier coming in as a courtesy runner. Therese O'Shea singled, and Robin Borowski moved both runners over with a sacrifice bunt.

That set the stage for Braem to be the hero.

"She's the type of kid who's going to put the ball in play. We went back and forth between the bunt and the slap, and we said, you know what, put the ball in play," Fonda said.

Braem did, flying out to center field. Both runners tagged, and the throw was high and a little up the third-base line. DeKalb catcher Jennifer Butts leapt for it but was knocked to the ground by the sliding Asselmeier, and the ball flew untouched to the backstop. O'Shea followed Asselmeier in with the winning run.

"It was a clean play. No harm no foul there," Davis said.

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