Softball notebook

Updated: April 26, 2011 11:43AM

The Peotone softball team dropped its first game of the season last week, as defending Class 2A state champion Coal City showed it wasn’t done and knocked the Blue Devils from the ranks of the undefeated with a 6-5 win in Coal City.

Still it’s been quite a season thus far for Peotone, which is now 15-1, after the loss - which was it’s only game last week because of the weather.

“I have a great group,” Peotone coach Bob Santella said. “They just love this game and would run through a wall for you.”

This is the first year as Santella as head coach at Peotone. He previously coached Bishop McNamara in 2008. That season the Irish finished 23-13 and advanced to the Class 2A sectional title game at Coal City, before losing a 3-2 heartbreaker to Beecher in the final.

The Blue Devils are led by area stats leader, Alyssa Invergo. The junior shortstop has already verbally committed to the University of Memphis and is rearing up the field with a .727 average (40-for-55) and nine home runs.

“She bats leadoff and can slap and knows how to hit for power,” Santella said. “Plus she’s fast, steals bases and has only made one error at short.”

But Invergo isn’t the only one. Peotone has seven girls batting .457 or higher. Included are .500 hitters Brittney Campione (.547), Jenna Balthazor (.537), Brittani Janes (.532), and Emmy Vowell (.510). In the circle Corinne Carr is 9-1 and Danielle Liberatore is 4-0 with a team-leading 2.23 ERA.

Area fans that don’t want to drive too far too see the Blue Devils can catch them at Lincoln-Way West on Saturday, May 14 at 1 p.m.

Zembruski zinged by injury

Minooka senior shortstop Aly Zembruski will miss the next month of the season. She suffered a high ankle sprain sliding into second during the Indians 4-1 win over Marist on April 11.

It was a big blow to Zembruski, who has signed with the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. She is one of the leading players on the team and was batting .343 with nine runs scored and six RBI’s. She had an on base percentage of .410.

The initial diagnosis called for her to be out 6-8 weeks. To start she was fitted with a boot and using crutches. Her estimated time back is mid to late May.

“It was a big hit to our team,” Minooka coach Mark Brown said. “I have coached Aly since she was a freshman, she has played shortstop in every game. Her leadership and experience are irreplaceable. Aly has a high level of confidence and it rubs off on our younger players.

“Aly is the type of player who, after a two hour practice, will stick around and take another 100 swings. She has a internal drive to do well, that is something you cannot coach or teach.

Brown believes that Zembruski will be back, but in the meantime appreciates her support for the team.

“Since her injury, she has been our number one supporter,” he said. “When a player of that caliber gets hurt, it is easy to get down and ‘withdraw’ from the team for awhile. But Aly has taken the other route, coming to all practices, cheering on her teammates and in a way, becoming another assistant coach.

“You can’t replace an Aly Zembruski type of player, she means so much to this program, both defensively and offensively. Our plan is to get her healthy and ready for the end of regular season and into our playoff run.”

A new contender

As if the SouthWest Suburban Blue wasn’t tough enough already, there’s a new contender in the league.

That is Homewood-Flossmoor, which knocked off both Lockport and Lincoln-Way East in back-to-back games last week. Entering Monday, H-F had a 12-4 overall record and was 4-0 - a half game ahead of defending Class 4A state champion Sandburg for the conference lead.

“I thought H-F was a great team,” East coach Katie Meader said. “They came out ready and set the tone. In our conference you can’t expect to go undefeated. This section coming up is the meat of our conference and we have to play well.”

© 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.