Small ball pays off for Raiders

EAST PEORIA, Ill. - Retired coach Bill Voves, the architect who built the softball program at Glenbard South, had a huge smile when the Raiders finished third in Class 3A. They did it playing small ball.

“I feel like the proud papa,” Voves said. “This means so much to the school and for the program. When I retired, I could have stayed on, but Julie [Fonda] was ready.

“When the team scored the winning run [in the third-place game], it was doing all the things that Julie [a 1996 Glenbard South graduate] did as a player, getting the big hits, stealing a base, moving runners and scoring.”

FRESHMAN OF INFLUENCE: Niles North’s Brittany Sanchez burst on the scene. The freshman outfielder excelled at the plate and in the field. She is the daughter of Israel Sanchez, who was with the Kansas City Royals in 1988 and 1990.

NO EXTRA LUCK: Marengo, which finished fourth in Class 3A is now 0-3 in extra-inning state tournament games. The Indians lost to Bartlett in extra innings in a 2007 supersectional, and lost twice this weekend, 1-0 in 12 innings to Limestone and 2-1 in Glenbard South in eight.