Leyden rolls ahead; Maine West bows out
Leyden's softball team notched its fifth regional championship and first since 2004 with a 15-3 victory over Evanston in five innings.
The Eagles (30-6) belted 12 hits in the championship game of the Class 4A Evanston regional championship game.
They advance to Thursday's semifinal of the Niles North sectional and will face No. 3 Glenbrook North.
Leyden has a 13-game winning streak under coach Kurt Schuett.
Eagles sophomore Morgan Maize (22-3) threw a 9-hitter with 5 strikeouts and also went 2-for-3 with a grand slam.
Other top hitters for the Eagles were Christina Morgan (2-for-4), Dana Thomas (2-for-3), Ciara Mackey (2-for-2, double), April Markowski (1-2, double), Dana Sullivan (1-for-3) and Moira Quinlan (1-for-1).
New Trier 9, Maine West 0: Top-seeded New Trier scored all its runs in third and sixth innings to win the Class 4A Maine West regional championship.
Trevians pitcher Kelsey Lee had 13 strikeouts, including 11 in a row to start the games. She also went 3-for-4 at the plate.
No. 9 Maine West (12-21) was led at the plate by Kim Morales (2-for-3) while Olivia Beers had a double and teammate Angela Cruz had the other hit.
West freshman pitcher Ariel Valles finished the season at 9-7.