St. Edward breezes into sectional final

The St. Edward girls softball team earned a shot at redemption Wednesday.

By dispatching Walther Lutheran 12-0 in five innings in a Class 2A sectional semifinal at Benedictine University, the Green Wave advanced to Saturday’s 11 a.m. sectional title game against nemesis Lisle, which defeated Woodlands Academy 7-2 in the first semifinal.

Not only did Lisle defeat St. Edward 8-3 earlier this season, the Lions have knocked the Green Wave out of the playoffs each of the past two years. The Wave expect to face Lisle pitcher Bekka Houda, against whom they have not scored a run in two postseason starts.

“There’s always a first time for everything,” St. Edward center fielder Veronica Rolando said with optimism in her voice.

It took a couple of innings for the offense to click for St. Edward (18-9) against Walther Lutheran (5-20), a fellow Suburban Christian Conference team they handled with ease during the regular season. But once the train got rolling it became unstoppable.

The Wave scored 11 runs in the third inning against starting pitcher DeeDee Kruckenburg (3-11). Fifteen hitters stepped to the plate and socked 9 hits, including 2-run doubles by Maddie Kerr and Ashley Gradisher and 2-run singles by Rolando and Kali Kossakowski.

“Once we got a chance to see (Kruckenburg) once and get used to her, we really got it together,” said Kossakowski, who went 2-for-2 with 2 walks and scored twice.

The Broncos mounted their best threat in the second inning when the game was still scoreless. Two walks by St. Edward senior pitcher Sarah Field and the only hit of the game for Walther Lutheran by No. 9 hitter Tiffany Tapia loaded the bases. However, Field induced a soft liner to Kelsey Richmond at third base to end the threat.

“We had the bases loaded once and a girl at second in another inning and we were hanging tough,” Walther Lutheran coach Dylan Mack said. “Then there was a big momentum shift and we were out of it.”

Field (17-9) struck out 7 and walked 4 in her 5 innings of work. Kruckenburg held the Green Wave scoreless for the game’s first two innings, a fact not lost on St. Edward coach Jaci Corn, who said she expects her team to swing the bats better from the start against Lisle Saturday.

“We started out slow with the bats,” Corn said. “We have to bring that right at the beginning.”

Maturity, Corn offered, is a driving force behind the Green Wave’s advancement to a sectional title game and an 18-3 record since opening the season 0-6.

“We have a lot of seniority out on the field especially toward the end of the season,” she said. “And our younger players have matured greatly and they’re doing the exact same thing. It’s working in our favor right now.”