There is absolutely no question who will start the final two softball games of the season for Coal City at this weekend‘s Class 2A state finals.
The Lady Coalers are 38-0 because senior pitcher Kirsten Verdun has won all 38 games, an Illinois state record.
The numbers are stunning: 223 innings pitched, 458 strikeouts, 0.31 earned-run average. Allie Budde, the Coalers’ backup pitcher, has thrown just nine innings. In two years, Verdun has won 69 games and struck out 905.
Among her perfection: Back-to-back perfect games in the sectionals. And guess who is the Coalers’ leading hitter? Yup, Verdun, at .580, with a team-leading 69 RBI and a team-leading 78 runs scored.
Verdun is hoping the biggest prize comes in her senior season. At 4:30 p.m. Friday, the Coalers will face Alton Marquette (29-5) in the Class 2A semifinals at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria. Verdun’s 39th win would send Coal City to the school’s first-ever appearance in a softball state championship game.
"I feel we need to come out with something to prove because I think we have a target on our backs. We want to prove to everyone that we deserve to be down there," Verdun told the Morris Daily Herald.
Verdun and the Coalers have already beaten its ghost from 2009: Stanford Olympia, which shut out Coal City 2-0 in the 2A semifinals last year, lost 7-5 to the Coalers in this year’s Super Sectional. If the Coalers win Friday, they’ll play Johnston City (34-3) or Morrison (19-12) in Saturday’s 7 p.m. title game.
Storylines around Chicagoland
* Hillcrest High School, of Country Club Hills in Chicago's southwest suburbs, won its second consecutive state championship in boys track and field, scoring 61 points to top Kaneland and Cahokia by eight points in the Class 2A meet at Charleston. Jamison Wilson, a senior and the state's top qualifier in three events, won the 110-meter low hurdles and long jump, and placed second in the 300 high hurdles. The Hawks also won the 400 relay. Kaneland’s winning time of 3:20.29 in the 1,600 relay was a state record.
In Class 3A, a winning throw of 61 feet, 10.5 inches in the shot put and a second-place finish in the discus by Jermaine Kline, and a win in the pole vault by Zach Ziemek, led Lake Park to the state title. Repeat individual winners included Chicago Whitney Young’s Jonathan Gardner in the triple jump (48-4), Glenbrook South’s Colin Hepburn in the 100 (10.74 seconds) and Marian Catholic’s Erick Gavin in the 100 hurdles (13.90). In Class 1A, Zack Riley won the long jump (23-4) and high jump (6-8), leading Herrin to the team title.
* University of Illinois soccer recruit Vanessa DiBernado, the daughter of 1984 Olympian Angelo DiBernado, hopes to lead Waubonsie Valley (21-1-4) to its third state championship in four years this weekend at North Central College in Naperville. DiBernado, a midfielder, has scored a team-high 23 goals. Waubonsie Valley will take on Glenbrook South (24-4-4) in a semifinal game at 7 p.m. Friday. A win would send the Warriors into Saturday’s 7 p.m. Class 3A title game against Sandburg (22-2-21) or St. Charles North (22-1-1). In four years, Waubonsie Valley's record is 95-5-6. Its only loss was 2-0 to Sandburg earlier this season. In DiBernado’s four seasons, the Warriors’ only loss in the postseason was to Naperville North in the Super Sectionals last year.
* Former St. Rita (Chicago) baseball star Shane Conlon, now with Naperville Central, is on a collision course with his former team. The Mustangs, 2009 state runners-up when Conlon won nine games, are two wins away from advancing to the Class 4A final four again. Conlon, a Kansas State recruit, won his 10th consecutive game Wednesday, helping the Redhawks defeat rival Naperville North, 7-1, in a sectional semifinal. Central will play Plainfield North (30-6) in a sectional final Saturday. If both teams keep winning, St. Rita and Naperville North would meet in the 4A title game June 12 at Joliet’s Silver Cross Field.
* Robert Stineman, the state’s top tennis seed form New Trier, defeated 2009 state champion Blake Bazarnik of Stevenson in the semifinals, then topped No. 3 seed Tim Kopinski of Stagg, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) in the finals to win the Illinois boys tennis championship. Stineman’s win helped New Trier win the team title by three points, 43-40, unseating three-time state champ Hinsdale Central.
3 big performances
* Shannon Foley, a sophomore forward from Notre Dame (Quincy), scored her 25th goal of the season and had an assist in the Lady Raiders’ 2-0 win over Manteno in the Class 1A girls soccer championship game at North Central College in Naperville. It was just the second loss in two years for Manteno, the 2009 state champ. Notre Dame (24-2) won its first-ever state title.
* Angie Diamantopoulos, a junior at Sandburg, scored the game-winning goal in the third overtime of the Eagles’ 2-1, Class 3A Super Sectional win over Joliet. Diamantopoulos scored both goals for Sandburg (22-2-1).
* Lexi Bryant of Sandburg hit a three-run home run in a Class 4A regional final against Marian Catholic, leading the Eagles to a 4-1 win and into sectional competition at Andrew. Sandburg (36-2), the top-ranked team in the Chicago area, defeated Andrew 3-2 on Wednesday and will meet Marist (31-7) in Saturday's sectional final.
On deck
* St. Rita (29-9) vs. Oak Park (26-10-1), Class 4A baseball sectional championship, 11 a.m. Saturday, St Rita High School: The 2009 4A runner-up Mustangs would post their sixth 30-win season in seven years with a win. Senior pitcher Anthony Andres tossed a two-hitter and struck out nine in St. Rita’s 6-1 win Wednesday over De La Salle.
* Harrisburg (39-0) vs. Illinois Valley Central (Chillicothe) (32-5), Class 2A baseball semifinal, 5 p.m. Friday, Silver Cross Field, Joliet: The unbeaten Bulldogs are attempting to win their first state title since 2004. Senior shortstop-pitcher Reid Roper leads Harrisburg with a .513 batting average and an 11-0 record as a pitcher. If Harrisburg wins Friday, it would meet Elmhurst Immaculate Conception (30-10) or Teutopolis (29-4) in Saturday’s championship game.
Paul Bowker, a sports journalist for 25 years who has worked at newspapers nationwide, covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com.
