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All in a day’s work for St. Bede’s Lily Bosnich: BCR softball/baseball notebook

Senior slugger hits home run, wins 300 hurdles for Bruins in same day

Lily Bosnich

No one is busier than St. Bede senior Lily Bosnich in the spring.

On Thursday, her two sports worlds collided.

Bosnich went 1 for 3 with a home run, two RBIs, three runs scored and three stolen bases in the Bruins softball team’s 10-0 win over Marquette.

With no time for the St. Bede Superwoman to change clothes, Bosnich raced to the senior night track meet to run the 300 hurdles while wearing her softball uniform. She won by more than eight seconds with a time of 46.98. She scratched from the 100 hurdles, which was held earlier in the meet.

It was just all in a day’s work for the St. Bede standout.

“It was senior day for track. That’s why she did it,“ St. Bede softball coach Rob Ruppert said. ”Lily is just a special athlete. Probably could play D1 softball somewhere. Just a typical day on the softball field – hitting a home run, stealing bases, making plays on defense.

“She’s just an all-around, five-tool player, speed, power average great arm, could probably play any position on the field. It has been so fun coaching her. Best thing about her, she’s a great person, very humble.”

Streak buster

Bill Booker and the St. Bede Bruins felt like they let one get away Tuesday against Marquette in Ottawa.

On Thursday, the Bruins made amends, reversing the score to defeat their Tri-County rival 6-1, snapping the Crusaders’ win streak of 39 games dating back to April 28, 2025, when they lost also to the Bruins.

“We felt like we let one get away on Tuesday. That is why we were so proud of our players responding last night,” Booker said.

After that 2025 loss to St. Bede, the Crusaders had not lost since on their way to their second straight 1A state championship and winning their first 21 games this season.

Booker said the Bruins gave no thought to what kind of streak the Crusaders may have had going in. They just play to win.

“Streaks and number of wins are for the fans,” he said. “We respect all opponents and try to put the best product on the field. We’ve been battling the injury bug all season, and we try to have the next man up/team mentality, and so far we’ve stayed competitive in our conference race.

“There’s a long way to go for conference and tourney time.”

St. Bede's Alec Tomsha attempts a bunt against Marquette on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at Masinelli Field in Ottawa.

Power bats

Thursday’s homer was Bosnich’s seventh round-tripper of the season. She is batting .455 with 23 RBIs and 30 runs scored while stealing 10 bases in 10 attempts.

She is one of several power bats in Bureau County lineups this spring.

Princeton junior slugger Avah Oertel has belted 10 home runs, batting .605 while matcher her own single-season RBI record of 43 and setting new season doubles mark with 17. She is now the Tigresses’ all-time leader for home runs (28), RBIs (121) and doubles (33).

Teammate Keely Lawson has smacked eight home runs with 27 RBIs, batting .438.

Baseball leaderboard

There are five different offensive leaders atop the BCR Baseball Leaderboard as of April 29, with St. Bede’s Maks Baker leading the way with four home runs and 22 RBIs. He’s second in batting average only to teammate Gus Burr (.475) with a .435 clip.

Other offensive leaders are Hall’s Luke Bryant for runs scored (24) and Greyson Bickett for stolen bases (29) and St. Bede’s Ranbir Saini for doubles (8) and Burr for triples (2).

On the mound, Bureau Valley’s Logan Philhower (1.24) and Dylan Howlett (1.86) head up area pitchers for ERA, while St. Bede’s Gino Ferrari and Geno Dinges and Hall’s Brady Bosi have four wins each. Saini has the most strikeouts with 43.

Kevin Hieronymus

Kevin Hieronymus

Kevin has been sports editor of the BCR since 1986, covering Bureau County and IL Valley Sports. Was previously sports editor of the St. Louis Daily News and a regular contributor for the St. Louis Cardinals Magazine. He is a member of the IBCA and Illinois Valley Hall of Fames. He is one of 4 sportswriters from his tiny hometown Atlanta, IL