Led by a dominating performance in the circle by Sophie Stone, the Fenwick softball team defeated Montini 3-0, May 24, to win the IHSA Class 3A Trinity Regional at Triton College.
“It feels good to win, especially on your graduation day,” said Stone, a senior who allowed just one hit, a seventh-inning single, and posted 16 strikeouts. “I was throwing a lot of curveballs, and once the wind died down, [Montini] didn’t seem to be making a lot of solid contact on outside pitches.”
Fenwick (14-9) gave Stone all the support she would need with two first-inning runs, coming on a sacrifice fly from Gianna Pescatore and an RBI groundout by Madelyn Entler. The Friars tacked on a run in the bottom of the fifth as Entler drew a bases-loaded walk.
Montini got the potential tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Stone struck out Erin Grimsley to end the game. The victory gave Fenwick its third consecutive regional title. It’s also the first for head coach Valerie Jisa.
“It’s amazing. I couldn’t be more proud of these girls,” she said. “They delivered when they needed to, and Stone outlasted everyone.”
Up next for Fenwick is Wheaton St. Francis in a sectional semifinal at Glenbard South, May 29 at 4:30 p.m. The winner meets either Elmwood Park or Glenbard South for the sectional title, June 1, at 11 a.m.
“[The sectional] is where we’ve struggled every year before now,” Stone said. “But we have confidence and I think this is our best chance at making it through.”
“It’s up to them how they’re going to string together hits and do the job,” Jisa said. “I know our defense is there, but everything else has got to be there too.”
Fenwick boys volleyball
It was a challenging season for a young and vastly inexperienced Fenwick boys volleyball team. The Friars finished 5-17 and lost to Oak Lawn Richards 22-25, 21-25 in a Fenwick Regional quarterfinal, May 20.
Brian Riggs had 13 assists and two blocks, Will Griswold three kills and two blocks, Sean White four kills, Declan O’Rourke and Dom Tortorello three kills apiece, and Aidan Soule two aces for Fenwick in the season-ending defeat.
But head coach Kate Whitman thought her team made progress throughout the year.
“With only four returning players, it was a rebuilding year,” she said. “We didn’t win a lot of games, but a lot of our losses were very close. We got better as the season went along, which is all you could ask for.”
Fenwick had three sophomores on this year’s varsity, with two moving into the starting lineup towards season’s end. With eight returnees for next year, Whitman hopes the experience gained will prove beneficial for the Friars.
“The future’s pretty bright,” she said. “We have a few kids from the lower levels that we pulled up for the playoffs who showed a lot of promise. They’ll work themselves into next year’s lineup.”
