Sofia Kateeb and Fenwick were managing a confluence of less than ideal circumstances for their state semifinal game Friday.

Fenwick’s sophomore ace threw 162 pitches Monday in a 12-inning supersectional win over Lemont.

The Friars knew they’d be down another pitcher Saturday, win or lose, due to a scheduling conflict.

On top of it all?

Fenwick was facing defending state champion and No. 1-ranked Glenwood.

Through it all, Kateeb kept her singular focus on the job at hand.

“Just came out here wanting to win,” Kateeb said.

Kateeb gave the Friars a chance. Summoned in relief to start the second inning after Glenwood scored three runs in the first, she retired the first seven batters she faced.

Fenwick rallied to within a run and trailed by just two until Glenwood scored four runs with two outs in the top of the seventh to beat the Friars 9-3 in the Class 3A state semifinal at Peoria’s Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.

Kateeb struck out seven in six innings of relief, and junior Bella Bigham had three hits, including a double, and scored all three runs for Fenwick (22-12), which plays Dunlap in the third-place game at 10:15 a.m. Saturday.

Glenwood (30-2) had its first five batters reach base with hits, scoring three runs. The momentum was only stopped when Purdue commit Hope Gilmore was thrown out trying to stretch her triple into an inside-the-park home run.

Fenwick’s plan was for Jordan Rossi to start the game and Kateeb to finish. The pivot, though, came sooner than planned as Kateeb came out for the second.

“I want the game, obviously,” said Kateeb, who threw 120 pitches Friday. “Going out there, trying to compete with the best team in the state, gotta do what you got to do to pick up your teammates. Threw a lot of pitches, my coach was calling great, defense behind me.”

Kateeb indeed changed the game’s momentum, allowing just one walk over her first three innings of relief, nothing that surprised Fenwick coach Valerie Jisa.

“She’s money. She wanted it so bad,” Jisa said.

Jisa acknowledged it wasn’t the best scenario for a state semifinal to not start her ace.

“I wanted to potentially save her for tomorrow. I was put in a jam,” Jisa said. “Of course you want to start your ace, but I didn’t want to burn her. It was a really hard puzzle that we had to figure out.”

The Friars, in their second state tournament appearance in three years, showed fight.

Bigham singled with one out in the bottom of the first and scored on Hailey Smith-Young’s two-out single. Bigham singled again to start the third and came home on a two-out wild pitch to draw the Friars within 3-2.

“Doing whatever I can for my team,” Bigham said. “Batting for the girl in front of me and the girl behind me. I wanted it bad, and the whole team wanted it bad.”

Bigham reached again in the fifth on a one-out double.

“My approach was I know they’re one of the best teams in the state, I know she’s going to throw me a strike,” Bigham said. “Just go up swinging. Everybody deserves to be here, even the underdog.”

Kateeb reached on a throwing error with two outs, scoring Bigham to make it 5-3.

“We put some pressure on them. They were nervous,” Jisa said. “We saw what we are capable of.”

Kateeb quickly retired the first batters in the seventh until Glenwood broke the game open with six straight batters reaching base.

Freshman Jemma Lamb’s RBI double that just missed going out started the late offense for the Titans, whose only loss this season came to Class 2A finalist Carterville and Class 4A semifinalist Marist.

Fenwick will go for its second third-place trophy in two years on Saturday.

“We have to go out there, play our game and compete,” Kateeb said. “Two teams get to go home with a win. We want to be one of them.”

Jisa considers the experience a good one for a Fenwick team that started three sophomores, two juniors and two freshmen Friday.

“I think some of the green players don’t realize the magnitude that it takes to play here,” Jisa said. “I have a young team. Next year, they’re going hard.”

In the Class 2A third-place game, IC Catholic Prep lost to Williamsville 15-6. Sofia Bucaro was 2 for 4 with a run scored, Kelly Cahill was 2 for 3 with a run scored and RBI, and Leilani Mendez was 2 for 3 with a double and RBI for the Knights (30-7), whose fourth-place trophy is the first in program history.

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Fenwick greets their opponents after falling 9-3 to Glenwood Friday, June 5, 2026, in the Class 3A softball semifinal in Peoria. (Alex T. Paschal)