All season, Fenwick High School varsity softball head coach Valerie Jisa has sensed her team had potential to be really good. But there was one thing lacking on the Friars’ resume: a signature victory.
That’s exactly what Fenwick got on May 9 at Ridgeland Common with an 8-2 defeat of East Avenue neighbor Oak Park and River Forest High School, the program’s first over the Huskies since 2011. And Jisa showed emotion in expressing how proud she was afterwards.
“How about that!!! I didn’t know,” she said when told of the 15-year gap between victories in the series. “We had timely hitting, plenty of steals and sacrifice bunts. They came ready, you could just tell the energy was amazing. They wanted it.”
OPRF coach J.P. Coughlin came away with a good impression of the Friars.
“All credit to them. Sofia (Kateeb) pitched great, we know she’s legit,” he said. “I told Bella (Bigham) I expect to see them in Peoria, I think they can easily win (Class 3A).”
Kateeb and Bigham played major roles in the win for Fenwick (15-10). Kateeb, a senior, went the distance in the circle, allowing two runs – on a pair of solo home runs by OPRF’s Julia Henderson. She struck out seven and allowed four hits and also went 2-for-4 at the plate.
“Just the feeling is ecstatic,” Kateeb said of beating the Huskies. “We wanted this. My catcher (freshman Hailey Smith-Young) called great pitches all game, kept the pitch count really low. And we had great defense all around.”
Bigham, a junior, belted a two-run home run in Fenwick’s four-run third inning, as did Smith-Young (3-for-4), who later added a solo blast.
“It felt awesome. My bat felt really good today,” Smith-Young said. “We were all hitting really well. Sofia pitched amazing. She’s hitting her spots and she was trusting her pitches. Honestly, she couldn’t do any better.”
Carolyn Rainey began the game in the circle for OPRF (23-11). She went three innings and allowed six runs on eight hits, striking out two. Gabriella Chesney came on in relief and gave up two runs on six hits in four innings.
“Carolyn pitched awesome. She missed two spots, and they hit both over (the fence). But her stuff was playoff-ready,” Coughlin said. “Gabby did a great job in relief.”
Avery Lane had two hits for the Huskies, who are seeded second in the IHSA Class 4A Whitney Young Sectional and also host a regional.
“I’m so proud of this group. None of them had ever played together and they didn’t know each other,” Coughlin said. “They’ve come around and gotten better and better throughout the season and I think we’re going to play our best softball the next couple of weeks.”
Fenwick, the top seed in the 3A Glenbard South Sectional and is also a regional host, got three hits from Ellie Brady and two apiece from Kyleena Nowinski and Alex Purta. The victory over OPRF, which placed third in last year’s 4A tournament, has the Friars feeling confident in making their own run this season towards the state finals in Peoria.
“It shows me, it shows them, we’re capable of anything,” Jisa said. “We have something special here, so respect it and keep working and having the same energy.”
“It teaches us that our defense, when it’s on, is good. When our offense is hitting it’s amazing. We just want to keep that up,” Smith-Young said.
Fenwick wraps up the regular season this week at the Fenwick Priory in River Forest with games May 14 versus Aurora Central Catholic and May 16 versus DePaul Prep. Meanwhile, OPRF can still clinch at least a share of the West Suburban Conference Silver Division title with a victory in the finale at Hinsdale Central, May 13.