Willowbrook’s Sonia Ruchala lost most of her junior year with a freak injury. Now she’s back, as good as ever

Sonia Ruchala is no doubt cherishing her time on the softball diamond these days.

And a good home run celebration.

Willowbrook’s senior shortstop lost almost her entire junior season from the very definition of a freak injury.

Celebrating teammate Marli Smrz’s home run – right after Ruchala hit her own – she broke her tibia and ankle last April.

“I was running out of the dugout, it had rained the day before, it was wet and muddy, I went to turn the corner,” Ruchala said, “and my ankle folded.”

Ruchala noted that the injury occurred on the same day as a solar eclipse. Ruchala’s own rare event six games into the season was a tough pill to swallow for Willowbrook coach Nick Hildreth’s team.

Ruchala has been a starter since her freshman year, is an NCAA Division I shortstop committed to the University of Indiana-Indianapolis and was hitting over .600 at the time.

“They handled it well, but it’s hard. In the back of your mind you’re thinking starting shortstop, D1 player, our best player – it was a difficult situation. You can never make too big of a deal, but you still want to be sensitive to the kid,” Hildreth said. “The seniors from last year handled it well, went 21-10 and lost to Benet in a regional championship.”

Ruchala’s doctor said they had never seen a bone break in that place, noting that the tibia is hard to break. Surprisingly, she did not require surgery, but tendons around the ankle were bruised and strained, which took longer to heal.

With a softball IQ that’s off the charts, Ruchala was an extra set of eyes and ears for Hildreth in the dugout with pitch calls and defensive shifts, her way to stay involved while she was rehabilitating.

She came back early from that injury, her summer team’s third tournament, and just to hit.

“It hurt really bad after summer games,” Ruchala said. “The most I could play in a day is two games.”

Ruchala helped run Hildreth’s summer youth hitting camps to get back into the flow and ran her own separate hitting camp for kids.

“If she wants, she has a future in coaching,” Hildreth said. “She’s as good as it gets. Nice to get her back acclimated.”

Ruchala is back as a player this spring, and does not look like she’s missed a beat.

Through 11 games she was hitting .387 with five homers, five doubles and 19 RBIs. Ruchala homered twice in a win Tuesday for Willowbrook (7-5).

“She’s hitting the cover off the ball, back to where she was at this time last year,” Hildreth said.

Last week was the one-year anniversary of Ruchala’s injury, which she brought up to Hildreth. As much as the physical, the mental is a huge hurdle, and she has to be careful. First game of the season, rounding first, she rolled the ankle and it was bruised for two days.

“I’ve learned to adapt,” she said. “I feel like 90-95% back.”

Fate, it seemed, seemed to smile on Ruchala with her college choice. IU-Indy reached out to her the week after her injury and was the only school in the recruitment process that waited for her to heal up and allowed Ruchala time to make her decision.

Her goals for this season?

The future psychology major didn’t point to wins or losses as much as the relationships she’s making.

“I really want to be a leader to the younger girls on the team,” she said. “We have two sophomores and I want to be a role model and a leader that they can come to when they need something more important than athletic performance.”

Nazareth’s no ordinary Joe

On a young team with several sophomores and freshmen, Nazareth’s strength is up the middle. That’s seniors Emme Barnes (catcher), Annabella Rychetsky (pitcher) and Kennedy Joe, in center field.

And Joe makes the Roadrunners go.

Second team All-State as a junior, Joe is off to a fast start, batting .448 with a .515 on-base percentage and .862 slugging percentage, with 13 runs scored and six RBIs. She’s also 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts.

“When she gets on base, she makes things happen,” Nazareth coach Chrissy Johnson said. “Stealing, delayed steals, she can hit for singles, she can hit for power. She can do it all.”

She’s the perfect table setter both on and off the field for first-year coach Johnson, who was previously a JV coach and before that head coach at Niles West.

“She is the most coachable player that any coach could ever ask for,” Johnson said. “She stepped into a big leadership role being a senior and she’s very athletically gifted. She is definitely a vocal leader, which is super important for such a young team.”

Versatile defensively, Joe could probably play any position besides pitcher or catcher. But she’s a difference-maker in center.

“She’s been the starting center fielder for Nazareth for at least three years,” Johnson said. “She covers so much ground out there. She’s so valuable.”

York’s big hitters

Gia Valentin was a pitcher her first two years of high school for York’s lower levels, but she was tried out as a hitter and fielder this spring to give her bat a shot.

She has provided quite a shot in the arm.

The junior, playing third base and designated player in her first varsity season, is batting .522 with three home runs for the 9-4 Dukes. Valentin was recently moved into the cleanup spot in York’s batting order.

“She has been a great addition to our lineup,” York coach Lisa Fraticola said. “With her, she is just relaxed. That is what helps her to be successful. She has a lot of confidence.”

If Valentin has been a pleasant surprise, Lilly Burda has been anything but.

Second team All-State last season as a sophomore, York’s third-year starting shortstop is batting .489 with three home runs, and leads the Dukes with 13 RBIs and 22 hits. She’s in her third year alongside junior second baseman Maggie Demopoulos, who has 16 hits and three homers.

“Lilly is a constant in the lineup, coming into her own as an upperclassmen and pushing the rest of her teammates,” Fraticola said. “Lilly and Maggie, they work really well together. They are great up the middle.”