SICA West the best // Conference has top five softball teams in area

The SICA West gets a high five this week.

The top five teams in the state's toughest softball conference -Joliet, Lockport, Stagg, Lincoln-Way and Sandburg - are ranked 1-5 inthe Chicago Sun-Times Super 25 this week with a combined record of41-1.

"From what I can see, rankings may be accurate," Stagg coach BobDillon said. "Everyone is playing very well, and it's going to be aninteresting conference season. We use conference to prepare for thepostseason, and you can't get better preparation than 10 games in theSICA West."The sixth team, Andrew, which was hit hard by graduation andinjury, is 4-3. The Thunderbolts can't be overlooked either.One thing that has separated the SICA West has been exceptionalpitching.Joliet's Mary Jaszczak and Lockport's Shannon "Big Train"Lindgren are arguably the state's best juniors.Jaszczak led the Steelwomen to the Elite Eight last season,where her team fell 1-0 in 14 innings to Downstate Morton on anerror.Lindgren was the No. 1 pitcher for the Porters' 1997 Class AAstate championship team, but she tore a muscle in her arm that seasonand was sidelined for the state finals. With a 17-strikeoutperformance against Providence and 15 K's against Lyons, she hasshown that she's back."Experience has made me a better pitcher," Lindgren said. "I'mstronger this year, and that has been a difference."Observers say she's faster, too.Stagg, which went into the season with a big question mark onthe mound, has a powerful 1-2 punch with Kari Kopchik and sophomoreKerri Hartley. The duo has allowed only one earned run in 12 games.Sandburg coach Randy Couwenhoven has three pitchers back -Meghan Watson, Karyn Byrd and Amy Peters - and a freshman, BrittanyMcIntyre, who could be as good as anyone.Lincoln-Way also has mound depth that includes senior AutumnWendler, junior Becky Dorsey and freshman sensation Laura Severson."The teams in our league were the toughest teams we faced exceptfor state last year," Joliet second baseman Katie O'Connell said."This has to be the toughest five teams in any league. We could beNo. 1 now, like we were last year, and go in and lose 1-0 games. Onething this does is prepare everyone for the postseason."With two weeks before league play, the Steelwomen are tuning upwith a strong nonconference schedule. Unbeaten Minooka visits JolietWest this week with pitcher Nessa Frederick, a summer teammate ofmost of the Steelwomen on the the Joliet Jays."This whole area is strong, and our league is exceptional," saidDale O'Connell, Katie's father and Joliet's coach. "There are a lotof good softball players, a lot of good coaches and the kids comefrom strong summer teams. We go into each game trying to play thebest we can. But like the major leagues, you don't win all the time.At least, I have a couple of weeks to think about it."Tournament assignmentsThe Illinois High School Association has released its regionaland sectional assignments for the state tournament. Two area teamsthat have moved from familiar regionals are Morris, which joinsJoliet and Lincoln-Way at Joliet Catholic after being assigned withRockford and Quad City teams since winning the state title in 1992;and New Trier, which always has headed northwest. This year, theTrevians will play in the regional at Niles West, which feeds theFenton Sectional. Elite Eight pairings will feature winners ofsectionals at Fenton vs. Moline, Andrew vs. O'Fallon, Springfieldvs. the Public League and Waubonsie Valley vs. Barrington.It's possible two SICA West teams could meet for the state titlewith Stagg, Sandburg and Andrew feeding into Andrew and Joliet, andLockport and Lincoln-Way feeding into Waubonsie Valley.