Hard-luck Glenbard South falls to aggressive Trinity

Long after Thursday's Class 3A sectional semifinal ended, many of the Glenbard South softball players lingered on their home field, as if it were too soon to go home.

After going downstate the past two seasons, the Raiders were knocked out of the playoffs 6-2 by a tough Trinity team.

It just wasn't the Raiders' day.

"No, it wasn't," Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda said. "We hit it hard but right at them. They came to win. Not that we didn't, but they got the breaks today and the ball definitely bounced their way. We certainly can't balk at a 32-4 record, though. These kids laid their hearts on the line every day for me, and I'm blessed to be able to coach them."

Normally a sure-handed team, Glenbard South committed 3 errors under pressure from the aggressive, hard-hitting Blazers.

"I think we helped take them off their game today," Blazers coach Bob Osborne said. "We put a lot of pressure on with speed and power, and I think it's hard. A pitcher (Jess Wilkes) like that, she's not used to being hit."

Trinity (31-5) scored twice in the first inning. Abby Ramirez and Amanda Ramirez scored from third and second base, respectively, on a passed ball and an error on the same play.

"We wanted to bat first," Osborne said. "It works out really well for us. I've got a freshman pitcher (Chase Machain) on the mound, so it's nice to get some runs for her and attack."

"We made some key errors," Fonda said. "As the floodgates opened we tended to get tighter and tighter, and when you play tight defense, that's what happens. You throw away the ball that you don't usually throw away and you don't field the grounder. You start questioning."

Trinity got another run in the third inning, then Glenbard South seemed to come out of its doldrums when Danielle Chitkowski cranked a 2-run home run to left-center field.

"We were back," Fonda added. "We were back in it. Dani singlehandedly brought us back into that game. But give Trinity credit. Tip your hat to them because they were never out of it."

Trinity made it 4-2 in the fifth inning on an unearned run, then gave itself some breathing room in the sixth, scoring twice, one of them unearned.

"I don't know if you could say that we were overconfident," Raiders senior first baseman Tess DiIorio said, "but we all had the feeling that we would win this game and make our way to state."

Machain struck out two, walked nobody and gave up five hits. The defense behind her was impeccable, especially shortstop Abby Ramirez, who had 6 assists and a putout.

"They made really good plays and we just couldn't get it past them," DiIorio said.

Trinity will play Riverside-Brookfield for the sectional championship at 11 a.m. Saturday at Glenbard South.

"Sometimes the day is just not yours, and today just wasn't ours," Fonda said. "Obviously, we wanted more, and we will now cheer Trinity on to victory, we hope. Hopefully, they get the same opportunity we got last year."