St. Edward ready for regional challenge

The St. Edward girls softball team has plenty of incentive heading into next week's Class 2A Lisle regional at Benedictine University.

The Green Wave open the 2010 postseason against the very team that sent them packing last spring in the sectional semifinals - the host Lions, who thumped St. Edward 8-0 on the same field the two will meet on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

"A lot of our girls remember that," said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando, who has guided the Wave to two straight regional titles and a supersectional appearance in 2008. "They put it to us real good last year. But we've won the regional the last two years and we have to look at it as this is ours to defend."

St. Edward (19-14), which closes out the regular season today at Aurora Central Catholic, is the No. 2 seed in the regional. Immaculate Conception, St. Edward and Lisle each had the same number of first-place votes in seeding and IC won the coin flip. The Knights (17-8) open the regional Tuesday against No. 4 seed Chicago Notre Dame. The championship game is at 4:30 p.m. next Friday.

"It's one of the best regionals in the area," Rolando said. "It's evident all of us are capable of winning or losing. It comes down to who shows up."

The Green Wave have had an up and down season in which their success has been dictated by their defense. Their pitching and hitting has been solid enough but the defense has had its struggles, such as making 20 errors in 3 games at the Larkin Slugfest. Rolando is hoping that's behind his team now.

"We have to continue to play solid defense and we have been as of late," he said. "We'll have to limit our errors to zero or one and not make that a big one."

Offensively, the Wave have flourished this season. They hit. 309 as a team, led by junior catcher/3B Tarah McShane, a Driscoll transfer who has a .465 average with 4 home runs and 24 RBI. Junior pitcher Sarah Field is at .390 with 10 doubles and 27 RBI and senior SS/catcher Kristina Brockner is at .374 with 22 RBI. Senior outfielder/pitcher Bre Medinger, another Driscoll transfer, hits at a .347 clip and has 3 homers and 27 RBI and senior center fielder Kristi Knott is at .340 with 15 RBI. Junior second baseman/outfielder Veronica Rolando hit .298 and had 26 RBI for a team that has scored 198 runs in 33 games.

"We have confidence at the plate," said coach Rolando. "The girls have a great attitude. Their camaraderie is one of the best of any team I've ever coached. There's no finger-pointing on this team. The girls know they're good enough to win this and they also understand they can't just show up."

In the circle, Field has been the workhorse for the Wave again this season. The three-year varsity starter is 16-9 with a 1.80 ERA. She has 141 strikeouts in 159 2/3 innings.

While St. Edward has the bulk of its team back from last year, so does Lisle (15-9), which won the sectional title a year ago. The Lions are led by senior catcher Colleen Drennan (. 370, 1 HR, 19 RBI), sophomore shortstop Mackenzie Buchelt (. 351, 10 doubles, 2 HRs, 25 RBI) and sophomore CF/P Melanie Early (. 350, 3 HRs, 20 RBI).

In the circle, Early (6-4, 1.38 ERA) and junior Bekka Houda (9-5, 1.77 ERA) have shared time this season. Early pitched on April 15 when St. Edward beat Lisle 3-2 in Elgin, but Houda stymied the Wave in last year's sectional game.

"They've got Bekka Houda back but Early seems to have become their No. 1," Rolando said. "Like us, they've got a lot of the same components. All we can do is control what we do with our effort and attitude. We have to be mentally and physically prepared to play."

If the Wave can advance from Wednesday's game, they'll likely see IC in the final. The Knights, who beat St. Edward in their only meeting this season 8-5, are 12-2 in the Suburban Christian Gold and tied with Guerin for first place. IC is led by sophomore Katelynn Conenna, a Driscoll transfer who is hitting .549 with 14 doubles, 3 homers and 36 RBI. Pitcher Briana Iosco, who splits time in the circle with Erin Dunne, hits .507 and has 25 RBI and Maria Kieliszewski hits .481 with 17 doubles, 2 homers and 32 RBI.

The Lisle regional winner returns to Benedictine on May 27 to face the Timothy Christian regional winner. Timothy is the No. 1 seed there. Regional winners from Westmont and St. Scholastica also advance to the Lisle sectional and the sectional winner moves on to the Memorial Day NIU supersectional to face the Rock Falls sectional champ.

Class 1A: Westminster Christian is the No. 6 seed in the six-team Serena regional and opens the postseason Monday at No. 3 Newark.