The Pantagraph:  Jessi Smith’s two-out single to right field scored Kimmy Hassel in the bottom of the sixth inning and Amber May made it stand up as top-seeded Normal Community edged No. 16 University High 1-0 in a semfinal game of the Class AA Lincoln Softball Regional on Tuesday at Lincoln.  May (10-2) struck out 16 and gave up only one hit, a two-out single to Sarah Cochran in the seventh.  NCHS (25-7) advanced to Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game against the winner of today’s Lincoln-Champaign Centennial game.  Hassel led off the sixth against Rachel Vazquez with a walk. She was sacrificed to second by Shayla Hoenes. After Vazquez got the second out, Smith delivered the game-winning hit, the only hit for NCHS. Vazquez (3-8) walked three and didn’t have any strikeouts.  “She moved the ball around,” said U High coach Chuck Gault. “She got a lot of groundballs and our infield played well. That’s what we’ve been after.”  The only other U High runner to reach against May was Courtney Rogers on catcher’s interference in the sixth.  “As a team we played very well. Anytime you go up against Amber, you better have a great day,” said Gault. “You better take advantage of what you get because there’s not many of them (opportunities) available. We needed a hit here or there, and it didn’t come.”

**********************************************************************

The Pantagraph:  Amber May pitched six hitless innings, and her Normal Community High School softball teammates provided plenty of offensive punch Saturday as the top-seeded Ironmen rolled to a 5-0 win over the host Railsplitters in the championship game of the Lincoln Class AA Regional.  May (11-2) struck out 15 and walked only one before Megan Nonnemacher entered in the seventh. Kayla Riggs reached on an error and Amber Wilson singled for No. 8 seed Lincoln’s lone hit before Nonnemacher struck out the next three batters to end it.  

Lisa White went 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead an 11-hit attack for the Ironmen (26-7), who will face Pontiac at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals of the Normal West Sectional at Maxwell Park.  White’s RBI single in the first staked NCHS to an early lead.  Shayla Hoenes, Marla Kindred and Jordan Menendez all added two hits and one RBI for NCHS, which added two runs in the second and fifth innings to break the game open.  Desirae Lercher suffered the loss for Lincoln (23-9), which set a school record for victories this season.

**********************************************************************

The Pantagraph:  The Ironmen put runners at the corners in the first on back-to-back, two-out singles by Jessi Smith and Lisa White.  Smith scored easily when catcher Amy Kennedy couldn’t handle a pitch in the dirt.  “We knew Amber was going to be tough,” Pontiac coach Amy Krause said. “We were hoping to score a run and hold them on defense, and it kind of went the other way for us.”   May (12-2) struck out the first six batters before Kasey Branscum led off the third for Pontiac (25-7) with a bunt single. After a strikeout, Eric Fogarty reached on another bunt single, but Branscum was called out for straying off second while May was in the pitching circle.  “I felt it was a very questionable call that kind of took the wind out of our sails,” Krause said. “They said she rounded second and stopped and went back, which is something that should not have been called out.  “I’ve never heard of it. They said you can’t do that. It’s heartbreaking to have to deal with a call like that.”

May was even tougher to deal with, retiring 13 of the final 14 Pontiac hitters. The Heartland College recruit worked around her only walk and was unfazed by a 21-minute rain delay in the second.  “My riseball was jumping a lot today, and the change-up was working,” May said. “At the beginning of the season I never used the change-up, and I realized that would hurt me in the end. I’ve worked on it hard enough that I feel confident with it now, even if it’s a full count.”  Tesdal (17-4) allowed only three hits with six strikeouts and three walks.  “There’s nothing we could have done any different,” Krause said. “The fluke passed ball, wild pitch or whatever it was, that wasn’t like our team. Sometimes you just have to chalk it up to it just wasn’t our day.”

**********************************************************************

The Pantagraph:  After bunting the LaSalle-Peru High School softball team into a tizzy, Normal Community switched gears Saturday at Maxwell Park.  Senior catcher Jordan Menendez was eager to pull the trigger for NCHS against Cavaliers’ starter Torie Brunzell.  “I got a pretty good look at her my first at bat,” Menendez said. “The first pitch looked like a screwball to me, and I just turned in on it and it went the way I wanted. As soon as I heard it, it felt pretty good.”  Menendez, the Ironmen’s No. 9 hitter, drilled a three-run double down the left field line to snap a scoreless tie and highlight a wild four-run, fourth-inning rally.  NCHS senior ace Amber May added a final exclamation point, recording her 1,000th career strikeout for the final out to cap the top-seeded Ironmen’s 4-0 victory in the championship game of the Normal West Class AA Sectional.  The Ironmen (28-7) earned their first sectional title since 2004 and advanced to Monday’s 4 p.m. Illinois Wesleyan Super-Sectional against East Moline. The Panthers won the Pekin Sectional with a 3-0 win over Limestone.  “The closer we get (to state), the more we want it,” Menendez said. “The more we want it, the harder we play.”

May (13-2) and Brunzell (18-1) were locked in a classic pitcher’s duel until the bottom of the fourth. Brunzell blinked first, throwing a bunt hit by Courtney Sharp into the right-field corner for a three-base error.  Marla Kindred followed with another bunt that popped up in front of the plate. LaSalle-Peru catcher Callie Schmidt tried to make a diving catch but couldn’t hold on to the ball, and Kindred alertly raced to second for a rare infield double while Sharp held at third.  Kaitlin Crane legged out another bunt in front of the mound after Brunzell checked the runner at third to load the bases and set the stage for Menendez.  “We were having a hard time getting the bat on the ball,” said NCHS coach Bob Grimes. “When we scouted them they had a little trouble sometimes fielding the bunts, so I thought, well, let’s try it and see what happens and today it worked out.  “That’s the mentality of this team. They think softball and they think situations. We’re very fortunate to have a smart group.”  Grimes liked NCHS’ chances with Menendez at the plate.  “I like putting seniors in that (No. 9) position because a lot of times in a game it comes down to that and the seniors usually do step up,” Grimes said. “I was happy for Jordan. She’s worked really hard. Give credit to the other kids that were on base also.”

The final run scored on another error by third-seeded LaSalle-Peru (29-4), which was making its first sectional appearance since 1979.  “It was one bad inning,” said LaSalle-Peru coach Carie Swanson. “Other than that they played good defense.”   May, who continues to pitch with a painful knee injury, fired a two-hitter with 17 strikeouts and no walks. May has 49 strikeouts in NCHS’ last three games.  “My adrenaline is pumping even harder every game,” May said. “It’s so intense now.”  Brunzell allowed five hits and no earned runs with 12 strikeouts and four walks.

**********************************************************************

The Pantagraph:  Katie Lutes slugged a leadoff home run in the top of the sixth inning to snap a scoreless tie and spark the Normal Community High School softball team to a 4-1 win over East Moline Monday in the Illinois Wesleyan Class AA Super-Sectional at Bloomington.  NCHS earned its first state tournament berth since 2004 while improving its record to 29-7. The Ironmen will face the winner of today's Illinois-Chicago Super-Sectional matchup between Chicago Resurrection and Chicago St. Ignatius at 5 p.m. Friday in the state quarterfinals at EastSide Centre in East Peoria.

NCHS senior ace Amber May (14-2) fired a three-hitter and struck out 13 to end East Moline's Cinderella postseason run. The Panthers, the No. 7 seed in their sectional, finished at 16-22.  Lutes added a two-run single in the seventh to cap a 3-for-3 day at the plate. The Ironmen collected six hits off East Moline starter Allison DeVilder (10-9), who struck out four and walked three.

**********************************************************************

The Pantagraph:  Amber May’s performance in Normal Community High School’s 3-0, nine-inning victory over Chicago Resurrection in the Class AA state softball tournament Friday won’t get the national recognition it deserves.  Combining elements of Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run in the 1988 World Series and Michael Jordan’s 38-point “flu-game” in the 1997 NBA finals, May came within one strikeout of the tournament record while overcoming a knee that will have surgery Wednesday and vomiting that kept her awake until 4a.m.  NCHS coach Bob Grimes set aside his low-key demeanor while searching for new superlatives to describe May’s career-high 19-strikeout masterpiece.  “I just basically love her,” he said. “She’s something special.”

May’s heroics would have been for naught without Lisa White’s run-scoring single in the ninth after back-to-back hits by Katie Lutes and Jessi Smith.  Courtney Sharp followed White with a two-run double as the Ironmen guaranteed themselves a third state trophy on their fourth Elite Eight trip since 2001. Resurrection bowed out at 30-5.  NCHS (30-7) takes on Edwardsville (36-3) in today’s noon semifinal at EastSide Centre. The Tigers topped Oak Park-River Forest, 1-0.  Today’s 10 a.m. semifinal pits Downers Grove South (32-5-1) against Barrington (36-3). The third-place game is at 4:30 p.m. and the final at 7.  Downers Grove South topped Bartlett, 3-2, Friday while Barrington downed Frankfort Lincoln-Way East, 2-1.  May was among seven Ironmen who failed to keep food down during the 24 hours before the first pitch.  “There is a virus going around our team right now,” May said. “I told Mom this morning, ‘I’m not going to stop now because of the virus. I’ve come this far with the knee, this isn’t going to stop me.’”  May stopped the first seven batters she faced on strikeouts. The only pitcher to finish with more strikeouts in the 23-year history of the Class AA tournament was Sandburg’s Brittany McIntyre, who had 20 in a 1-0 14-inning loss to NCHS in the 2002 semifinals.  “We’ve seen some good pitchers, but she was excellent,” said Resurrection coach Mike Marrese, whose team was held to four hits. “We just couldn’t get two hits in a row.”  Grimes never considered resting May.  “With what she has been through this year, I would have had to tie her to a semi or something,” Grimes said. “There was no way she wasn’t going to pitch today.”

Resurrection sophomore pitcher Hana Somogyi (25-2) limited NCHS to two hits through eight scoreless innings before the Ironmen erupted for four hits in the ninth. She struck out seven, walked one and hit a batter.  With his 2-3-4 hitters coming up in the ninth, Grimes told his players he had goose bumps.  “I said, ‘I think good things are going to happen now’ and they went out and made it come true,” he said.  Lutes led off with a single to left before Smith reached on a drive up the middle. White picked up her 17th RBI of the season with a fly ball that sailed over the left fielder.

“Lisa all year has done well,” Grimes said. “She was under the weather a little bit, too. I was glad to see her finally make contact. That’s the kind of hitter she is and that’s why she’s our DB.”  With runners at second and third, Sharp swatted a drive to left to notch her first double of the season and end the scoring.  “We hadn’t hitting all game and Coach said, ‘you nbeen eed a hit,’” Sharp said. “So I found a pitch and I just drove it and it felt great.”  Those runs came when May felt the worst.  “I was kind of getting dizzy out there, light-headed from being sick,” she said.  Resurrection got the stomachs of NCHS fans churning in the eighth with a single by Katie Kiscellus and an infield hit by Ashley Szyszka to create a runners-at-second-and-third situation.  May extinguished the threat with her 18th strikeout.  Asked if she can pitch two games today, May said, “We’ll find out.”

The Pantagraph:  In the semifinals, May received a rare luxury when she was spotted a two-run lead in the bottom of the first.  Lutes was hit by a pitch prior to Jessi Smith’s team-leading fifth triple of season.  “I just came out really aggressive,” Smith said. “I was going to swing at the first pitch no matter what. I just tried to swing at it hard.”  “Coach said she lived and died on the outside corner so I was looking for that,” Smith said.

“Almost everybody in the lineup has had a big hit,” Grimes said. “Who knows who’s next?”  The next batter, Lisa White, sent a sacrifice fly to center to score Smith.  The cushion made May hard to beat.  “It takes a lot of pressure off knowing I can let them hit the ball,” she said.  NCHS managed six hits, two by Shayla Hoenes, off of Edwardsville sophomore Lauren Francis (15-2), who fanned four and walked one.

May, who struck out 19 in Friday’s quarterfinal, killed Edwardsville’s bats with a poisonous diet of change-ups and sinkers to reach 1,047 career strikeouts, the 17th most in state history, entering the title game.  “I realized they were really disciplined,” she said. “They weren’t chasing the riseball. I told my catcher (Jordan Menendez), ‘let’s stay off-speed today.’ I used my change-up probably twice as much as I ever have in my career.”

Edwardsville coach Lori Blade was impressed.  “That was probably the best pitcher in the state tournament,” she said. “I thought situationally we had what we wanted because he (the umpire) wasn’t giving her the high strike, but she’s good enough to make the adjustments and we just kept chasing out of the strike zone the whole time which probably helped make her that much better.”  Edwardsville’s lone hit by Ritzheimer seemed to find the only 16 square inches of turf NCHS couldn’t cover.  “We haven’t had a lot of duck snorts like that this year,” Grimes said. “Jessi (Smith) was going out and Kimmy (Hassel) wasn’t calling her off, I guess. That’s part of the game.” 
 

Edwardsville HS at Normal (Community) - Play-by-Play  Jun 09, 2007 at EastSide Centre (Mizuno Field)


Score by Innings                         R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Edwardsville HS.....    000 000 0 -  0  1  2
Normal (Community).. 200 000 X -  2  5  0
-----------------------------------------

Normal (Community) starters: 3/3b Hoenes; 11/2b Lutes; 2/ss Smith; 8/dh White; 1/rf Sharp; 12/1b Kindred; 17/cf Crane; 14/lf Hassel; 9/c Menendez; 10/p May;
Edwardsville HS starters: 27/ss Gueldener; 10/cf Honegger; 20/1b Weems; 7/rf Berman; 4/3b Ritzheimer; 14/c McConnell; 34/2b Sardigal; 15/lf Davis; 12/dh Kruse; 

21/p Francis;

Normal (Community) 2

Player                       AB  R  H  RBI BB SO  PO  A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Hoenes 3b................  3   0  2    0   0   0   0   0   0

 Baldwin pr..............   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0

Lutes 2b.................   1   1   0   0   0   0   2   1   0

Smith ss.................   3   1   1   1   0   0   1   1   0

White dh.................   2   0   0   1   0   0   0   0   0

Sharp rf.................    2   0   0   0   0   2   0   0   2

 Bentley rf..............    0   0   0   0   1   0   0   0   0

Kindred 1b...............   3   0   0   0   0   0   3   2   3

Crane cf.................    3   0   1   0   0   0   0   0   0

Hassel lf................     3   0   1   0   0   0   0   0   0

Menendez c............... 2   0   0   0   0   2  15   0   2

 Holzhauer c.............  1   0   0    0   0   0   0   0   0

May p....................    0   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   0

Totals...................   23   2   5   2   1   4  21   5   7

Edwardsville HS 0

Player                    AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Gueldener ss.............  2  0  0  0   1  1   0   2   0

Honegger cf..............  3  0  0  0   0  2   3   0   0

Weems 1b................. 2  0  0  0   0  2   6   0   1

Berman rf................   2  0  0  0   1  2   1   0   0

Ritzheimer 3b............  3  0  1  0   0  1   1   2   2

McConnell c..............  3  0  0  0   0  1   4   0   0

Sardigal 2b..............   3  0  0  0   0  2   3   1   1

Davis lf.................     2  0  0  0   0  2   0   0   0

Kruse dh.................   2  0  0  0   0  2   0   0   0

Francis p................   0  0  0  0   0  0   0   1   0

Totals...................  22  0  1  0   2  15  18  6   4

Score by Innings                       R  H  E

-----------------------------------------

Edwardsville HS.....    000 000 0 -  0  1  2

Normal (Community).. 200 000 X -  2  5  0

-----------------------------------------

E - Sardigal; Davis. 

LOB - Edwardsville 4; NCHS 7. 

2B - Ritzheimer. 

3B - Smith. 

HBP - Weems; Lutes 2. 

SF - White.

Edwardsville HS        IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

Francis.............      6.0  5  2  2  1  4 23 27

Normal (Community)  IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

May.................      7.0  1  0  0  2 15 22 25

**********************************************************************

The Pantagraph:  Buoyed by the fluids she received from an I.V. Friday night, Amber May pitched her way into the Class AA state softball tournament records books Saturday night while sparking her Normal Community High School team to a 1-0 championship game victory over Barrington.  The offensive star complementing May’s windmilling wizardry was Katie Lutes, whose solo home run in the third inning hit the top of the right field fence and bounced over. 

May (17-2), slowed by a virus Friday and facing knee surgery Wednesday, struck out 17 Phillies during a one-hitter to finish with a three-game Class AA tournament record 51 strikeouts, destroying the record of 42 shared by Ali Arnold of NCHS (2001) and Thornwood’s Tina Zuccolo (1990).  “I didn’t know (the record) was coming until now so it’s definitely a great honor,” said May, who got ahead in the count almost all night. “If I get ahead, I’m able to throw more junk.”

After opening the school year with a Class 6A state football championship, NCHS closed it with another at EastSide Centre.  “We’ve got great athletes,” said Ironmen coach Bob Grimes with tears in his eyes. “The community is behind you. We’ve been due. The last two years, not getting out of the regional, we weren’t very lucky.”  That luck changed as the Ironmen ended their fourth state appearance since taking the title in 2001 with a 32-7 record while Barrington closed at 37-4.  “I’m just so happy for the girls, the program and the community because it’s everybody together,” Grimes said. “We’ve got great parents.”

Barrrington HS at Normal (Community) - Play-by-Play  Jun 09, 2007 at EastSide Centre (Mizuno Field)

Barrington HS starters: 6/cf Bloomfield; 15/2b Gilden; 7/p Voris; 0/c DeWitt; 12/ss Maropis; 30/1b Sander; 3/rf Wapotish; 24/3b Cygan; 33/dh McGurn; 9/lf Shandley;
Normal (Community) starters: 3/3b Hoenes; 11/2b Lutes; 2/ss Smith; 8/dh White; 16/rf Bentley; 12/1b Kindred; 17/cf Crane; 14/lf Hassel; 9/c Menendez; 10/p May;

Normal (Community) 1

Player                        AB  R  H RBI  BB  SO  PO  A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Hoenes 3b..............     3   0  0   0    0    0    1   0    0

 Golembeski pr........      0   0  0   0    0    0    0   0    0

Lutes 2b.................     3   1  1   1    0    1    1   1    0

Smith ss.................     3   0  0   0    0    1    0   0    0

White dh.................    3   0  1   0    0    1    0   0    1

Bentley rf...............     2   0  0   0    0    1    0   0    0

 Sharp rf................     1   0  0   0    0    0    0   0    2

Kindred 1b.............      2   0  1   0    0    0    2   1    0

Crane cf.................     1   0  0   0    0    0    0   0    0

Hassel lf................      2   0  0   0    0    2    0   0    1

Menendez c...........      2   0  0   0    0    0   17   0    0

May p....................     0   0  0   0    0    0    0    0    0

Totals...................     22   1  3   1    0    6   21  2   4

Barrrington HS 0

Player                     AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Bloomfield cf............  3  0  0   0   0   3   0   0   1

Gilden 2b................   3  0  0   0   0   2   1   1   0

Voris p..................    3  0  0   0   0   2   0   3   0

DeWitt c.................  3  0  0   0   0   3   6   0   0

Maropis ss...............  2  0  0   0   0   2   0   3   0

Sander 1b................  2  0  0   0   0   2   8   0   0

Wapotish rf..............  2  0  1   0   0   1   1   0   0

Cygan 3b.................  1  0  0   0   0   1   2   0   0

McGurn dh................ 2  0  0   0   0   1   0   0   0

Shandley lf..............   0  0  0  0   0   0   0   0   0

Totals...................   21  0  1  0   0  17  18   7   1

Score by Innings                                  R  H  E

--------------------------------------------

Barrrington HS......         000 000 0 -  0  1  2

Normal (Community)..     001 000 X -  1  3  0

--------------------------------------------

E - Maropis; Cygan. 

LOB - Barrington 1; NCHS 4. 

2B - Wapotish. 

HR - Lutes.

SH - Cygan; Crane.

Barrrington HS          IP   H  R ER BB SO AB  BF

-----------------------------------------------

Voris...............       6.0  3  1  1   0  6   22  23

Normal (Community)     IP  H  R ER BB  SO AB  BF

-----------------------------------------------

May.................        7.0  1  0  0   0  17  21  22 

NUMERO UNO!!!!!

NORMAL COMMUNITY

The cream of the Intercity crop this season, the Normal Community Ironmen have ridden the wave of Amber May to their second softball state championship of the millennium.  The softball championship bookends the football state title the Ironmen earned in the fall.  May, a senior, strangled the opposition’s offensive production by allowing only one run through eight postseason games while collecting 129 strikeouts over those eight games. May also shattered the state tournament strikeout record previously co-held by Ironman alumna Ali Arnold (state champion in 2001) by collecting 51 during those three games.

Against Chicago Resurrection in the state quarterfinals, May struck out 19 while the Ironmen broke a ninth-inning 0-0 tie when Lisa White hit the go-ahead one-run single to spark an eventual 3-0 win.  In the semifinals, Normal Community scored quickly on Edwardsville with a two-run first inning that held up the rest of the way as May worked her off-speed pitches to secure the 2-0 win.  May then fired her second consecutive one-hitter in the finals against Barrington, a tense affair that was highlighted by May striking out 17 batters while issuing no walks and Katie Lutes cracking a solo homerun in the third inning.  Lutes’ homerun turned out to be the only offense Normal Community needed to bring the school’s second state championship home in 2006-2007 as the Ironmen held tight for a 1-0 victory over Barrington, their 32nd of the season.

TEAM TOTALS

POST SEASON PITCHING STATS