Suburban Life softball notebook: Aces dealing for fast-starting Wheaton North, Wheaton Warrenville South

On both sides of Wheaton, the biggest softball question this spring was how their respective teams would fare with new No. 1 pitchers.

Just fine, it turns out.

Wheaton North (7-1) and Wheaton Warrenville South (5-0) are a combined 12-1 through the first two-plus weeks, and can thank stellar efforts in the circle.

On the south side, senior Presley Wright pitched behind Maddie Pool last year when she was not playing shortstop. Now the Tigers’ No. 1 who will play collegiately at Keiser University, Wright has pitched to a 1.64 ERA so far in four outings with 32 strikeouts over 25⅔ innings.

“She is really good. She throws a good amount of pitches and she has been able to locate them,” WW South coach Jeff Pawlak said. “She just brings that expectation that we have had the last few years. She leads by example.”

Over at Wheaton North, the Falcons graduated four-year starting pitcher Erin Metz from a record-breaking sectional finalist team.

They haven’t missed a beat with Hannah Wulf.

Wulf, a junior who committed to South Carolina last September, has been brilliant thusfar as the Falcons’ ace. She is 5-0 and has yet to allow an earned run over 28⅔ innings while striking out 34 and allowing just 11 hits.

“Erin set a very high standard on the field and off the field,” Wulf said. “She worked hard when people were watching and even harder when they weren’t. She and I have very different styles but I hope to continue the success she started.”

Wulf and Wheaton North’s marquee win up to this point was a 1-0 win over Huntley. Wulf tossed a two-hit shutout as the Falcons, ranked 12th by the Illinois Coaches Association in the preseason Class 4A poll, beat ninth-ranked Huntley.

“I think the win against Huntley proved to all of us that we have the ability to beat great teams,” Wulf said.

Reagan Crosthwaite doubled in the lone run in that game and is batting .500 with seven extra-base hits and 13 RBIs through eight games.

For the Tigers, leadoff hitter Abby Mease is the sparkplug with a .529 batting average while freshman Lily Bobor, batting .526 with six extra-base hits and eight RBIs through five games, is one to keep an eye on.

“Abby had a breakout season last year, she has been really good slapping, bunting, playing her game,” Pawlak said. “Bobor, get used to that name. She will be a good one. She can flat out hit and she is 14. It is wild. She doesn’t get overwhelmed or intimidated.”

Montini makes best of spring break trip

Montini enjoyed a successful spring break trip, going 5-0 in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., an hour outside of Knoxville. The Lady Broncos scored 45 runs in their five games against non-Illinois competition.

“Always good to play some new teams out of state and just get some variety,” Montini coach Amy Bukovsky said. “We have a lot of room to grow still. It’s exciting and a challenge to continue to get better.”

So far, so good for Montini, off to a 7-2 start coming off a 12-22 2024 season. The going will get tougher next week when Montini opens play in the GCAC Red.

“We still have a pretty young group here,” Bukovsky said. “We did have a lot of girls that got experience last year. We come back from Tennessee and have three tough ones. We have a challenge coming our way. We’re hopeful. We have a group of girls that really care about each other.”

Kat Filkowski has been Montini’s catalyst so far, hitting .528 with 19 hits and 16 runs scored. Sophomore Aubry Raffen has supplied much of the team’s power with four of Montini’s 10 homers while hitting .500 with 10 RBIs and 15 runs scored.

“Both of them are doing great, finding a way on base,” Bukovsky said. “Raffen has a lot of power. When you see her hit it’s hard line drives. Some of the home runs she hits are just line drives that keep going. We focus on hitting the ball hard, hitting situationally, moving runners over. We’ve done a good job of that.”