Lincoln-Way Central, Lemont take scheduling seriously: Herald-News Softball Notebook

Over the past few seasons, the two teams that have dominated the area softball landscape the most have been Lemont and Lincoln-Way Central.

Lemont won back-to-back Class 3A state championships in 2022 and 2023 after taking second in 2021 to make for an amazing three-year stretch.

Lincoln-Way Central, on the other hand, was Class 4A state runner-up in 2021 before falling to Lincoln-Way East in a sectional championship in 2022 and losing to Lockport in a sectional championship in 2023. Last season, the Knights advanced to a Class 4A supersectional, where they lost to eventual state runner-up Marist.

During those seasons, the two teams had each other on the schedule only to see Mother Nature take the game away in 2022 and 2023. Last season, they got the game in, and Central claimed a 1-0 victory. This season, they were able to play the game once again, and again Central won 5-0.

Despite the two straight losses, don’t expect Lemont to take the Knights off their schedule.

“This is why we schedule games like this,” Lemont coach Chris Traina said. “We want to play against the best competition we can. I think that only makes our team better. We probably won’t see anyone as good as Lincoln-Way Central in the playoffs, but now our kids have seen what a top team looks like and what we have to do in order to compete with that.”

Postseason Lineup

With the Herald-News area as strong in softball as it is, expect the postseason to be a knock-down, drag-out affair.

In Class 4A, the Lockport Sectional is loaded with teams that no one wants to face in a one-and-done situation. That starts with Lincoln-Way Central, which is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A in the most recent Illinois Coaches Association poll, which was released Sunday. Other area teams in that sectional, which features regionals hosted by Lincoln-Way Central, No. 15 Shepard and No. 22 Andrew and Joliet West, are No. 4 Lincoln-Way East, No. 7 Lockport, No. 13 Lincoln-Way West, Joliet Central, Plainfield Central, Plainfield South and Romeoville.

The winner of that sectional will play the winner of the Normal West Sectional in the Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional for the right to play in the state finals. No. 21 Minooka is in Subsectional B of that sectional, with regional hosts being No. 23 Bradley-Bourbonnais and East Moline United.

Also in Class 4A, Bolingbrook will host a regional in the Oswego Sectional, with area teams Plainfield North and Plainfield East also competing. The winner will play the winner of the Marist Sectional in the Illinois Benedictine Supersectional.

In Class 3A, No. 19 Lemont hosts a regional in Subsectional A of the Ottawa Sectional. In Subsectional B of the same sectional, Providence Catholic and Morris are regional hosts. The winner of the sectional will play the winner of the East Peoria Sectional in the Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional.

In Class 2A, the area teams are crowded into the Seneca Sectional, where Beecher and No. 24 Coal City are regional hosts in Subsectional B. Other area teams in that subsectional are No. 21 Joliet Catholic Academy, Reed-Custer, Peotone and No. 16 Wilmington. In Subsectional A, No. 3 Seneca will compete, with regional hosts being Bismarck-Henning and Prairie Central. The winner of that sectional will face the winner of the Illinois Valley Central Sectional in the East Peoria Supersectional.

In Class 1A, Dwight and Gardner-South Wilmington will compete in Subsectional A of the Serena Sectional, with Grant Park and Serena as regional hosts, The sectional winner will play the winner of the Argenta-Oreana Sectional in the Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional.

Stat Leaders

According to www.maxpreps.com, several area players are among the state leaders in several statistical categories.

Haydn Voss of Joliet Central is hitting .647, which ranks 18th, while Morris’ Halie Olson is 68th, hitting .567, and Wilmington’s Taylor Stefancic (.547) is 90th. Wilmington’s Molly Southall is 49th in slugging percentage at 1.128, just ahead of Minooka’s Addisonn Crumly, who is 50th at 1.125. Southall also is 26th in RBIs with 36.

For pitchers, Lincoln-Way Central’s Lisabella Dimitrijevic, the reigning Gatorade Illinois Player of the Year, is fourth in the state with a 0.49 ERA. Peotone’s Sophie Klawitter is second with 251 strikeouts, while Dimitrijevic also is tied for fourth with 207. Kelcie McGraw of Lockport ranks 20th with 164, and Morris’ Mylie Hughes is 31st with 147.