West Chicago's Connolly opts to join DePaul
As a young girl, Mary Connolly's softball future was full of California dreams.
It turns out, there's no place like home.
The West Chicago junior pitcher made a verbal commitment over the weekend to join Eugene Lenti's DePaul softball program. Connolly, Daily Herald All-Area as a freshman and sophomore, chose DePaul over a short list that included Loyola, Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan State.
"As time went on I realized I did want to stay close to home," Connolly said. "I want to give my parents a chance to come see me play. With the recession times are tough. No matter how much money we have, if I played anywhere but in the Midwest they'd have a hard time getting to see me play."
Connolly couldn't have picked a better regional program. In 27 seasons at DePaul Lenti has guided the Blue Demons to four Women's College World Series, most recently in 2007. Last season DePaul went 51-18 and won the Big East Conference championship.
"I wanted to go to a school that had a chance to go to the World Series," Connolly said, "and win."
Connolly burst onto the scene as a freshman, going 23-7 with a 0.66 ERA and 295 strikeouts in leading West Chicago to its second-ever DuPage Valley Conference championship. Last spring Connolly went 22-4 with a 0.57 ERA with 259 strikeouts and 12 shutouts.
Connolly will join fellow Stone City Sharks pitcher Kirsten Verdun in Lincoln Park. The senior left-handed ace of Class 2A state qualifier Coal City is committed to DePaul for next season.
"She and I are a nice 1-2 punch," Connolly said. "That was another bonus."
• Another top area junior, Naperville Central pitcher Alyssa Wunderlich, recently committed to Southern Illinois.
• In volleyball 6-foot-3 Wheaton Warrenville South junior middle Shealyn Kolosky committed to Tennessee. Kolosky will be the second Tiger to play for the Volunteers, joining 2003 graduate Annie Sadowski. Kolosky will join Daily Herald All-Area captain Kelsey Robinson of St. Francis and Bartlett's Carly Sahagian, both seniors, at Tennessee.