Softball: Scouting the Fox Valley postseason
With a mix of four seniors, five juniors, a sophomore and four freshmen, St. Charles East coach Jarod Gutesha wasn't sure coming into the year how the mix of classes would mesh.
After wrapping up the Upstate Eight River championship this week with just 1 loss in 18 games, the Saints answered any concerns in a big way.
St. Charles East (23-6) moves on to postseason play next week as the No. 1 seed in the Fremd sectional.
"We've got such a wide range of ages and levels and some of them didn't know each other going into the season," Gutesha said. "But they have bonded and that's a huge part of it. The older kids took the younger kids under their wing and the younger kids know now how to hang out with the older kids so it's perfect."
Those four seniors - Maddie Candre, Sara Campagna, Hannah Cozzi and Brooke Byas - took that leadership role and ran with it.
"Ever since the beginning of the year the seniors wanted to set the tone that we were a family and whatever happens is a group thing and everyone matters," Campagna said. "Since that we have just gelled really well. We have had team sleepovers and stuff and that brought everyone close together and improved the dynamic. Once you can trust a person off the field you can trust them on the field. Having 14 people behind your back is a great feeling."
The Saints open play Tuesday at Schaumburg against the winner of No. 16 Larkin and No. 18 Schaumburg.
Other potential postseason foes could include No. 8 Lake Park in the regional finals, No. 4 St. Charles North in the sectional semifinals and No. 2 Prospect or No. 3 Fremd in the sectional championship.
"They know how to play," Gutesha said. "They are all competitors. Their dynamics as a group, they are relaxed, they have fun together. When you are relaxed and have fun playing the game then good things are going to happen. That's a testament to them as a group."
Other area teams in the Fremd sectional include the Upstate Eight Valley champs, sixth-seed South Elgin (16-11) who opens with No. 11 Rolling Meadows.
South Elgin was the only Upstate Eight team to beat St. Charles East.
Bartlett is seeded seventh and plays No. 10 Glenbard West.
Huntley sectional: Fresh off their third straight Fox Valley Conference title, the Red Raiders will try to win a sectional on their home field.
First, Huntley (29-5) needs to win the Rockton Hononegah regional. The Red Raiders play either Rockford Auburn or Guilford, then either Rockton Hononegah or DeKalb.
Potential sectional semifinal opponents are No. 2 Grant and No. 3 Crystal Lake South, which Huntley beat twice in FVC play.
Coach Mark Petryniec has been using crafty senior Tiffany Giese and powerful freshman Briana Bower as a 1-2 punch in the circle.
Catcher Sofia Tenuta likes the duo's different styles.
"Totally different and it's something I adjusted to this year," Tenuta said. "I really like the mix between the two of them and they really support each other."
Like the Saints, Huntley also has a mix of classes. Giese is joined by seniors like shortstop Autumn Kasal, Tenuta is part of a talented junior class, and Bower isn't the only freshman making an impact - Marley Reicher and Paige Berkmeyer also are a big part of the Red Raiders' attack.
Barrington is the No. 1 seed in the other subsectional, the same team that defeated Huntley in last year's sectional championship game.
Jacobs and Dundee-Crown play each other in the regional opener, and the winner likely will get a crack at Barrington in the regional final.
Hampshire, seeded fourth, plays No. 6 Belvedere North in Machesney Park.
Oswego sectional: Geneva, Batavia and West Aurora are all headed to the Oswego sectional and seeded fifth, 11th and 13th, respectively.
The Vikings start regionals against Yorkville, the team who knocked them out last year in the regional finals.
Senior batterymates Katie Keller and Ali Dierks have led the way this year for Geneva. The NIU-bound catcher Katie Keller recently had a school record stretch of getting on base 17 straight times.
"She's swinging the bat well and we have to stretch it out through the lineup more consistently," Geneva coach Greg Dierks.
Batavia also is playing good softball heading into the regionals, completing a sweep of St. Charles North this week and then beating Geneva 4-2. Freshman shortstop Cassidy Carby went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI against the North Stars while Sammi Wicks pitched a complete game and Jaelen Lisberg had 2 hits against the Vikings.
Batavia coach Lupe Castellanos showed his confidence in Carby inserting her in the 3-hole early in the season.
"I put her there, I told her no pressure," Castellanos said. "She's doing an awesome job at short. She's really a third baseman but she's doing a great job at shortstop. She comes in with a lot of confidence and shows natural leadership."
The Bulldogs face No. 6 seed Wheaton Warrenville South on Wednesday at Oswego East.
Class 3A: The postseason road goes through defending Class 3A state champion Marengo who hosts a sectional that includes Kaneland, Burlington Central, Rosary, Aurora Central Catholic and St. Edward.
The Green Wave, led by Jessy Kramp, will get first crack at the top-seed Marengo if St. Edward can knock off Marian Central in its regional opener.
Burlington Central (17-5) is the fourth seed and could meet Marengo in a regional final that the Rockets host. Marengo defeated the Rockets once in Kishwaukee River Conference play with the second game of the series being rained out on Friday with Marengo leading 3-0 in the second inning.
Kaneland is in the other subsectional and earned the three seed behind Sterling and Sycamore. The Knights open play in the Rosary regional against ACC with Loyola-bound Dani Brown.
Kaneland comes in at 21-9 and one of the hottest teams in the second half of the season, winning 10 straight games.
Nobody is swinging a better bat than Donatela Sommesi, up to .506 with 10 doubles among her 43 hits. Rose Roach (.394), Hailey Roach (.371) and Hannah Theobald (.368) are also hitting well.
Emilee Erickson leads the pitching staff with a 15-4 record, 2.27 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 98 innings.
"We have some good senior leaders who pull these young kids along," Knights coach Mike Kuefler said. "There's no cliques. Our young kids do a great job but they don't have a choice. They are in there, in the game, they are contributing right away."