LT Sports: Softball Wins Regional; Girls Water Polo Reaches ...

On May 10, the Lyons Township softball team had a frustrating day against Oak Park-River Forest.

The Lions first lost a suspended game with the Huskies 8-7 in 16 innings. Then they played their regularly scheduled game and lost again 4-2.

LT got another chance to play the Huskies May 26 in the Class 4A LT Regional final in Western Springs and made the most of it.

The Lions captured their first regional title since 2008 by blanking the Huskies 3-0 behind a complete-game, five-hit shutout from sophomore pitcher Ashley Koziol.

LT (19-15-1) had lost in the regional finals the previous three seasons.

?It was a fun day. The girls were really, really happy that they beat Oak Park,? LT coach Dawn Schabacker said. ?It kind of made our season because of the fact that we had two really, really close games with them and came up a little short.?

LT, the No. 6 seed in the sectional, lost to No. 1-seeded Trinity 4-0 in the Trinity Sectional semifinals May 30. OPRF (19-18) was the No. 4 seed. Trinity (31-8) won the sectional and lost to Marist 8-3 in the Rosemont Super-Sectional Monday.

Seniors Lauren Huebner, Skye Riddle and Alyssa Koziol, Ashley?s older sister, were named to the All-West Suburban Conference Silver Division Team. The Lions finished fifth in Silver with a 4-8 record, sweeping their series with Hinsdale Central and Proviso West.

Huebner was named the Lions? Most Valuable Player. The starting shortstop had a .291 batting average with 12 runs batted in, 24 runs scored and a team-high 10 stolen bases.?

Alyssa Koziol was a pitcher/first baseman who hit .341, led LT in runs (28), walks (12), slugging percentage (.504) and extra base hits (12 doubles, 3 triples, home run) and shared the team lead in RBIs (20). As a pitcher, she was 4-7 with one save, a 2.40 earned-run average and a team-best 109 strikeouts in 78 2/3 innings.

Riddle, the starting catcher, hit .333 with 17 RBIs, nine doubles a home run, 14 runs and seven stolen bases.

Huebner (Aurora University), Alyssa Koziol (St. Ambrose) and Riddle (Dominican University) plan to play softball in college as well as designated player Chelsea Grady (Castleton State College of Vermont).

Grady led LT in batting average (.355) and shared the lead in RBIs (20) with a home run and eight doubles.

Ashley Koziol batted .271 with a team-high three homers, 16 RBIs and 13 runs. She was 11-6 as a pitcher with a 2.40 ERA and 45 strikeouts in a team-high 138 innings of work.?

Other top players this season included junior center fielder Becky Ryckman (.327, 13 RBIs, 13 runs, 9 doubles), sophomore third baseman Kayla Morrissey (10 RBIs, double, triple, 9 runs), senior right fielder Leyla Aiyash (5 RBIs, 11 runs), senior left fielder Allison Skala (.278, 4 RBIs, 10 runs), sophomore second baseman Stephanie D?Anna (.311, 4 RBIs, 16 runs), sophomore left fielder Kate Dougherty (7 RBIs, 12 runs) and senior Marisa Prater (.261, 4 RBIs with 3-0 pitching record and 2.21 ERA).

Morrissey is a transfer from Benet Academy who was a member of the Redwings? Class 4A third-place state team in 2011. Pitcher/infielder Maitlin Raycroft, the sophomore team?s MVP, was promoted for the state playoffs.

The Koziol sisters often switched off pitching duties, but Ashley took over full-time once a late-season injury forced Alyssa to remain at first base.

The Lions fell to 14-13-1 after a 10-0 loss to Downers Grove North in six innings May 14 in Alyssa?s last pitching appearance. Then they won their next game over Richards, 3-2 in 12 innings, to start a five-game winning streak.

Ashley Koziol pitched all 12 innings, allowing seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks, and was 4-0 during the winning streak.

?I think getting past Richards was a big game for us. After that game, we just kind of started to pick up and play our best ball. I guess that?s what you want to do at the end of the season,? Schabacker said.

?(Ashley Koziol) just really started to do some really nice things with her confidence and just hitting her spots. She?s only a sophomore. Her inconsistency at the beginning of the season was evident, but at the end of the season she was much, much more controlled.?

The Lions earned the rematch with OPRF after beating No. 12-seed Argo 10-0 in five innings May 23. Riddle had five RBIs by going 2 for 3 with a home run and double and scored three runs. Grady was 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a run scored, and Alyssa Koziol was 3 for 3 with three runs.

Against OPRF, Ryckman was 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI. Ashley Koziol (double), Alyssa Koziol (RBI), D?Anna and Grady also had hits, and Ashley Koziol, D?Anna and Morrissey scored the runs. Ashley Koziol struck out two and walked two.

After leaving numerous runners on base, the Lions finally broke through against OPRF in the top of the sixth on Alyssa Koziol?s hard hit to left field that went off the glove of an outfielder, scoring D?Anna and Morrissey. Ryckman doubled home Ashley Koziol in the seventh.

At the sectional, Trinity jumped to the early lead with two solo home runs in the bottom of the first and added unearned runs in the second and fourth innings.

The Lions actually out hit the Blazers 7-5 but stranded 10 runners, eight in scoring position, and were shut out for the fifth time this season. Ryckman was 3 for 3, and losing pitcher Ashley Koziol (5 strikeouts, 2 walks), Alyssa Koziol, Huebner and D?Anna also had hits.

?We didn?t feel like the game was out of reach -- even after the first inning. We felt like that the whole game. With one hit we could have connected at the right time, we would have scored two runs easily,? Schabacker said.

?I was really proud of the girls, the way they hung in there and came back. We had opportunities to score every inning. But Trinity came up with a very good pitch or good defensive play and shut us out.?

Lyons Township girls water polo

A great season for the Lyons Township girls water polo team ended too soon.

In a battle of the state?s top-two ranked teams, the Lions were defeated by defending state champion Fenwick 7-6 in the championship game of the York Sectional May 12 with a state quarterfinal berth on the line.

The top-ranked Lions (30-2-1) saw Fenwick score just 13 seconds into the sudden-death third overtime. The Friars (32-3) went on to capture another state championship by beating Naperville Central 10-7 in the finals May 19 at Stevenson.

LT senior Kirby Kaptur was among 10 players named to the first-team of the Illinois Girls Water Polo All-State Team. LT seniors Lizzy Kosin and Carrie Nacht were second-team all-state.

Kaptur, Kosin and senior Sam Patel were named to the first team of the All-York Sectional Team. Nacht and junior Blair Hopwood were on the second team, and junior Tegan Moore received honorable mention.

Kosin (3 goals) and Kaptur (2 goals) led the Lions offensively against Fenwick. Nacht scored the last game of regulation to force two overtimes at 5-5. Kosin had given LT a 6-5 lead in the first of two overtimes, but the Friars tied the game in the second overtime.

LT defeated Oak Park-River Forest 16-7 in the sectional semifinals behind Kaptur (4 goals) and Hopwood and senior Claire Curran (3 goals each).

During the regular season, the then-undefeated Lions beat Fenwick 13-10 during Fenwick?s Mike Murphy Tournament April 13. LT improved to 17-0 the next day before suffering their first loss 14-11 in the championship game to then-undefeated Naperville Central (33-3). Fenwick handed the Redhawks their first loss 9-4 April 19.

Lyons Township boys water polo

Lyons Township senior Kovas Zygas and junior goalie Chris Sekula were named to the first team of the Illinois Boys Water Polo All-State Team.

Zygas also was named the team?s Most Valuable Player. Junior Joe Shannon was named second-team all-state and junior Josh Hirt was named fourth-team all-state.

The all-state teams were released after the Lions captured their first state championship in program history by beating Loyola Academy 14-6 May 19 at Stevenson.

Zygas and Sekula also had been named to the first team of the All-York Sectional Team. Shannon and Hirt were on the second team, and junior Peter Dore received honorable mention.

jenelle evans the voice google play franchise tag lesotho a wrinkle in time benjamin netanyahu