Sisters plan busy summer

Updated: June 6, 2011 8:12PM

SOFTBALL— The Koziol sisters of Willow Springs just completed their first season together for Lyons’ softball team, but have decided to split up this summer.

The sisters, Alyssa, a senior, and Ashley, a freshman, were the top two pitchers for Lyons (17-16), which lost to Naperville Central 3-1 in a Class 4A regional final May 28.

Perhaps due to the age difference, the sisters will play for different club teams. On some weekends this summer, the sisters will be playing hundreds of miles apart, which should add some headaches to their parents, Steven and Roberta.

This weekend, Alyssa will attend a tournament in Ohio with her new team, the Glen Ellyn Phillies. Ashley will be in a different tournament in Moline while returning for her third season with the Homer Hawks, which practice in Romeoville.

Ashley’s coach with the Hawks is her father while the girls’ mother will likely chaperone Alyssa to many of her tournament commitments. Alyssa joined the Phillies on the suggestion of her Lyons teammate, Casey Witt, who played for the Phillies last season.

Both girls tried out and made the team, which is dominated by former and current Glenbard West players. Alyssa, Lyons’ top pitcher, will share pitching duties with former Hilltoppers pitcher Taylor Steinhilber and returning West pitcher Meghan Johnson.

“We have three pitchers on the team, which is a decent amount,” Alyssa said. “I also play first base and in the outfield.”

During the high school season, Lyons went 6-4 in the West Suburban Silver, but lost twice to Glenbard West. The Hilltoppers won 1-0 on May 6 and 4-0 on May 12. Alyssa pitched the majority of the games for Lyons while Ashley threw in nearly 10 games.

“I think we learned a lot,” Alyssa said. “It really worked out a lot for us (sisters). It was a blast being together. We had to win as a team and we had to lose as a team.”

With the Phillies, Alyssa will play tournaments this summer in Elgin, Glen Ellyn and could reach nationals being played in Kansas. Alyssa played in the fall with the Phillies, which is a year-round travel team.

Ashley played in 10 tournament games in 48 hours last weekend, including six games on Sunday. The games were played in Elgin. Ashley’s Hawks are comprised mainly of U-14s, but the team will up play with U-16s this summer. After playing in Moline, the Hawks will head to Detroit the following weekend for a tournament.

The national tournament for her age division is in Kentucky.

“I’ve been working more on throwing consecutive pitches (consistently) and refresh my rise ball,” Ashley said. “It’s new to me.”

When she’s not pitching, Ashley plans on playing first base, third base and outfield.

“I think (the Lyons season) went pretty well,” Ashley said. “It was really nice that we could all play together as team. It was a lot of fun.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.