The final weekend of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State tournament play will be held Friday and Saturday in boys baseball and girls softball. Spring sports champions have made indelible impressions with their successes.
Aurora Christian High School collected its sixth State championship Saturday when the baseball team took first place in its first State tournament appearance.
Carter Crane/The Voice
Plainfield North, Naperville North, and Glenbard West, performed well in multiple sports. Plainfield North baseball and softball teams each advanced to Friday’s State tournament semifinals; Naperville North’s girls captured the State Class 3A track and field championship, the girls soccer team took third place in Class 3A, the girls lacrosse team took third place in the sport’s initial IHSA State tournament, and the boys lacrosse team was fourth place last weekend; Glenbard West was third place in boys volleyball following three successive State championships, and the boys lacrosse team finished in third place following its 7-5 victory over Naperville North. Huntley confirmed its big-school standing with an 8-4 baseball victory over Loyola Academy in super-sectional play and entry into the State tournament semifinals. Lake Park’s baseball team moved to the State tournament with a 3-1 victory over Buffalo Grove.
Aurora Christian’s head baseball coach, Andy Zorger, said he knew late in the season the team was primed for a run to the State championship: “We were playing well with victories over Lake Park, two over IC (IC Catholic Prep), and Somonauk, which ended our season last year in the postseason.”
Sophomore pitcher Jake Kuntzendorf was 10-0 with an earned run average just under 2.00. He batted cleanup and played shortstop and first base when he was not pitching. Some other key players included MJ Stavola, outfield, Stan Tickel, who batted .536, Trey Madsen, shortstop. “We were defensively solid all year and outfielders ran down everything,” Zorger said.
Plainfield North girls softball head coach Mark Green leads the team to its first State tournament.