Warren Wave 10-U team wins 2nd bid to nationals

GURNEE – The Warren Wave 10-U Silver Team had a “wow weekend” June 16 to 19 at the Trevian Girls Softball Association Fastpitch Tournament in Winnetka, members said.

After coming in second place and earning a bid to the ASA Northern Nationals at the Glenview Thunderbolt Classic earlier in the month, the Wave came to win at Trevian, team leaders said.
And the team did, walking away with a first-place trophy after a seven-game weekend.

The Wave started slow during pool play and made several defensive mistakes, which cost them their first game – a 5-2 loss against a fast Park Ridge Pistol team, team leaders said. Then, playing better, they tied their second game against the Trevian Blue, 5-5.  Finally, the girls got it together and won their final game, 19-2, against the Lake Zurich Lightning.

Building on the momentum, the team’s first bracket game was June 18 against the Evanston Express.

Evanston had a good showing the week before in Glenview, but the Wave plastered the Express, 16-1.

In bracket play June 19, the team played the No. 1 seeded Sauganash Storm Black, a solid team with good pitching, team leaders said.  The game went into the last inning as a 1-1 tie when the Wave scratched out a run in the top of the inning. After some great defensive plays, they held on to a 2-1 victory.

The semi-finals were against the Palatine Stingrays, the same team that beat the Wave the previous week for the championship at Glenview. The Wave wanted revenge, and they got it. An 8-0 victory put the Wave in the finals against the Northern Ice, a team they were very familiar with, team leaders said.

The girls took an early 2-0 lead after two innings against the Ice and put another run on the board in the third for a 3-0 lead.

Then the team went on the attack and scored 5 runs in the fourth inning, making it 8-0. The Ice scored a couple in the fourth as well, but after five innings, it was 10-4, Wave.

The Wave attacked on, notching two more runs in the sixth for a 12-4 lead. The Ice had to score at least one run to keep the game going – a mercy rule goes into effect if a team is up by 8 runs after five innings.
After the first Ice batter got on base, she was quickly picked-off stealing. The final two outs were recorded in order, and the Wave took home the championship. The team finished the weekend with a 5-1-1 record.

“This is a first in the Wave program history,” said Tom Beck, president of the Warren Township Girls Softball program, in a statement. “Last season was the first time a 10-U team had won a tournament outright, but this is the first time a 10-U team has ever won the championship in an ASA Qualifier, and a second bid to ASA Northern Nationals.”

Members of the championship Warren Wave 10-U Silver Team include Kelly Beck, Rachel Becker, Chloe Bonke, Caitlyn Britton, Jessica Dettwiller, Elise Egofske, Ally Kolar, Taylor McIntosh, Megan Shanders, Claire Swedberg and Kelsey Ulrich.

To learn more, visit www.warrengirlssoftball.com.