The Illinois state tournament is no stranger to the girls soccer and softball teams at Sandburg, a southwest suburban Chicago school located in Orland Park.
The softball team has made it to the Elite Eight in eight of the past 11 years, finishing runner-up in 2001. The soccer team has finished second twice, losing state title games in 1996 and 2001.
In what has become a banner year for the school, the Eagles may be poised to strike state gold this season. The soccer team is unbeaten in 14 games, and its 2-1 win over Downers Grove South on Thursday advanced the Eagles to the semifinals of the prestigious Naperville Invitational on Friday.
Led in part by Loyola University recruit Brittany Gardner‘s pitching, the school‘s softball team has won 23 of its first 24 games and is unbeaten in South West Suburban Blue play. Gardner, who won 20 games for last year‘s softball team which won 28 times, has been battling a tight shoulder this year, but still is 9-1 and arguably the best softball pitcher in the Chicago area.
The Eagles soccer team blasted into the spotlight with a 2-0 win over previously unbeaten Waubonsie Valley, and then topped that with a 5-0 win over defending state champion Hinsdale Central in the Naperville Invitational.
"It (the win over Waubonsie Valley) was a great boost for them," said Bruce Scheidigger, Sandburg's athletics director.
Thursday, Sandburg was seeded No. 1 in Flossmoor Sectional for the upcoming Class 3A state tournament. Friday, the Eagles will meet Barrington (17-1-1). A win would send Sandburg into Saturday’s championship game. That could be a tall order, considering that Friday is prom night at Sandburg and the team’s seniors will likely miss their game Friday.
The spring excitement surrounding Sandburg‘s sports teams simply tops off a school year in which cross country runner Lukas Verzbicas won a national title at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, the girls cross country and wrestling teams placed second in state, the cheerleading squad placed third and the girls volleyball team won 33 matches.
"We‘re really blessed to have several athletic programs (succeeding)," Scheidigger said.
Storylines around Chicagoland
* Rockford Lutheran, which finished third in the 2009 Illinois Class 1A girls soccer tournament, was seeded No. 1 in a regional being hosted by Rockford Christian. Defending state champion Manteno is No. 1 in the Peotone Regional. Other regional seeds include Lisle, Chicago Latin and Chicago Christian. Regional play in Class 1A begins May 11. Among the top seeds in 2A and 3A are Waubonsie Valley, Glenbrook South, New Trier and St. Charles North in Class 3A, and Wheaton Academy, Tinley Park and Joliet Catholic in Class 2A.
* Plainfield North’s baseball team, at 17-2 a contender in the upcoming state playoffs, has not lost a Southwest Prairie Conference in nearly two years. The Tigers’ 4-3 win Tuesday over rival Plainfield Central was their 34th straight league win. North has won 10 straight league games this season.
* Coal City pitcher Kirsten Verdun has won all 19 games for the unbeaten Coalers. Coal City plays host to Herscher on Friday. Verdun had 31 wins last year for Coal City, when the Coalers finished third in the Class 2A tournament.
* Lane Tech clinched its first Chicago Public League Premier championship in girls soccer since 2004 with a 3-0 win Wednesday over Payton High School. Lane (11-2-1) won all seven Public League games. Jasmin Carerra, Leslie Garcia and Lisbet Montoya scored in the win over Payton.
3 big performances
* Northern Illinois baseball recruit Anthony Andres of St. Rita High School pitched a three-hitter, and had three hits himself, leading the Mustangs (19-3) to a 3-1 win over Catholic League rival De La Salle in a game played Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. "This was probably my best game of the season, and to do it here is really special," Andres told the Chicago Tribune. Andres has won all six of his decisions this season.
* Brother Rice pitcher Ryan Koziol allowed just three hits and struck out six in a 5-2 win over St. Laurence on Thursday. It was just the second loss of the season for St. Laurence (22-2) and its first in Catholic League play. Koziol is 5-0.
* Fremd’s Megan Hubbard hit two home runs in a 7-0 softball win over Barrington. "I never had a game like this before," Hubbard told the Chicago Sun-Times. The victory was Fremd’s 18th in 19 games.
On deck
* Naperville Invitational, 12:30 p.m. Saturday: The title game of the girls soccer tournament will be played at Naperville Central. Semifinals are scheduled for Friday. Teams still in the running: Barrington, Sandburg, Fremd, New Trier.
* St. Rita at Mt. Carmel baseball, 11 a.m. Saturday: The Catholic League Blue rivals meet in a game that could play a big part in the league’s title race. St. Rita (20-3, 9-1) got a grand slam from Joe Filomeno in a 13-3 win Wednesday over St. Francis de Sales. Mt. Carmel is 17-5, 7-2.
Recruiting: From Loyola to Loyola
Katie Faught, a junior guard at Loyola Academy on Chicago’s north side, verbaled to Loyola University. Faught chose the Ramblers over Holy Cross and Fordham, according to pioneerlocal.com. Loyola University’s women’s basketball team is coached by Eric Simpson, a former Northwestern University player who was a boys basketball assistant coach at Loyola Academy.
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
