Oak Forest’s Hailey Wesner isn’t shy about stating her mission for this season.
“Every time I go out there, I’ll treat it like it’s the last time,” Wesner said. “I am going to really give it my all, 100%. We always win regionals, but my goal is to make it farther.
“I love this team. I want the best for this team. They deserve it.”
So far, Wesner is coming up aces.
In the circle, the senior right-hander is 3-0 for the Bengals with 21 strikeouts and a 1.46 ERA in 14 1/3 innings. At the plate, she’s hitting .500 with two home runs and five RBIs.
Oak Forest coach Nick Fuentes is loving what she brings beyond the stats.
“Hailey has a different kind of vibe with her,” Fuentes said. “She’s always meant so much to the program, but you can see now that she’s really taken on that leadership role.
“She’s the one always being positive, always the one making sure the team is fired up.”
Wesner, a St. Xavier recruit, made her debut for the Bengals as a sophomore. She missed out on a critical year of experience because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Playing travel ball helped, but on the emotional end …
“Travel ball and high school ball are so different,” Wesner said. “In high school softball, you’re playing with your friends you grew up with. You’re playing for your school, your community and your town.
“My sophomore year, I was a little girl who didn’t really know my place. I just kind of stood in the background and did what I was told.”
Then Fuentes gave her the ball. She ran with it.
“I was very surprised,” Wesner said. “I didn’t even think I was going to be on the varsity, and when he handed me the ball I was like, ‘Oh, wow. He has faith in me.’
“It definitely put a lot of confidence in me.”
Walk-off time: Andrew’s 3-2 victory over Plainfield East came with plenty of drama.
The Thunderbolts trailed 2-1 with one out in the bottom of the seventh on March 30 when Madison Vrastil walked. MaTaia Lawson followed with an RBI double to tie it up.
Spring Hill recruit Maddie Hanik was next. The junior infielder drove an RBI single to end the game, and it’s something Thunderbolts coach Alyssa Gunther has seen before.
“I think she thrives off moments like that,” Gunther said of Hanik. “She loves when there’s a great, competitive game on both sides.”
Her grit? Gunther saw that on the very first day.
“Maddie’s freshman year, we were holding a program tryout,” Gunther said. “We were doing a live scrimmage and Maddie got hit by a pitch. Instead of taking her base, she stayed in the box because she wanted to hit.
Daily Southtown
Twice-weekly
News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday
“The next pitch, she hit a home run over the fence. She just has that presence about her, and it’s so fun to watch.”
Keeping cool: The competition among the Lincoln-Way schools — West, Central and East — is among the most intense in the Southland.
Reese Rourke had her first taste March 29, when she pitched for West against Central in the quarterfinals of the WJOL Tournament.
The freshman right-hander came up huge in a 2-0 victory, striking out nine and hitting a two-run homer.
To say the least, Rourke was rivalry ready.
“I knew a little bit about it, that it was a big game,” Rourke said. “My teammates were telling me to not be nervous, just do what I do. I got ahead in a lot of counts and used all of my pitches and things worked out.
“On the home run, my mindset was to get a base hit, move the runner into scoring position. I’m not really a home run hitter, so as soon as I hit it, I thought, ‘Uh-oh, let’s go.’ But things went even better.”
