By Dominic Scianna
Lane Tech’s varsity girls softball team put together a solid end-of-the-season performance as the Champions won an IHSA regional title on May 26 with an impressive 6-1 victory over Leyden High School in Franklin Park. The win marked back-to-back regional championships for Lane and head coach Samantha Meinken. In the sectional semifinal on May 30, Lane fell to Maine South at Whitney Young High School to end their impressive season with a 27-5 mark.
In regional title play, senior pitcher Kailey Hancock continued her mastery throughout the regular season and IHSA playoffs, striking out 12 Leyden hitters and giving up just three hits to earn the victory.
“Kailey has been peaking at the right time and has been a strong arm on the mound for us all year,” noted Meinken. “And, it’s really exciting to win back-to-back (regional) championships with a majority of the crew that was here last year.”
Hancock and catcher Gianna Phillips have great chemistry as battery mates and it shows in the results on the field and by their preparation off the field in getting ready for their opponents.
“Kailey’s a phenomenal pitcher and she trusts me to call the game,” said Phillips.
The tandem was in step and on the same page for most of the year as they went over opponents statistics and tendencies before each and every game.
“I’ll have a pitch in mind and she’ll (Gianna) call it. It’s that connection we have that makes the game flow easier,” admitted Hancock.
Meinken was also encouraged to see her team’s bats come alive in the regional final to produce 10 hits led by Avery Tassone (2-of-3, 2 doubles and 2 RBI’s), Megan Comineck (1-of-3, a home run and 2 RBI’s), and leadoff hitter Emma Dow (2-of-4).
“It made the games more personal (trying to win for this year’s senior group),” said Dow, a junior and Lane’s starting shortstop. “It also made us feel more connected as a team.”
In the IHSA sectionals vs. Maine South (17-7), the Hawks bested Hancock and Lane with timely hitting and a pitching star of their own in Jessica Hoffman who struck out 13 Lane hitters and allowed just one hit in the 4-1 victory.
Hancock fought her way out of two jams in the third and fourth innings to keep Lane ahead 1-0, but Maine South capitalized on four hits and four runs in the decisive fifth inning to pull away for the sectional win.
“I was starting to run low on energy and it was really hot (on the turf) but credit to them (Maine South) they hit it where we weren’t – but it was a fantastic season for sure for us,” acknowledged Hancock. “This has been such a great team and I’ve never grown so close so fast to a group of girls. We were always there for each other and that’s what made us get so far.”
Meinken credited a 27-win season to her talented senior core (Hancock, Tassone, Comineck, Natalie Toledo, and Ivy Hamill), along with a hungry group of juniors and sophomores who meshed together seamlessly this year. Now these returners are waiting in the wings to pick up the mantle next season after gaining valuable experience in the Chicago Public League (runners-up in the city championship), and IHSA playoffs (regional title and sectional final appearance).
But it won’t be easy to replace her stopper in the circle in Hancock, who now leaves high school to pitch in college at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
“We’ll definitely miss Kailey’s leadership, her calm and quiet presence, her dominating (pitching) and her bat (offensively) at the plate,” closed Meinken.
