By: Dominic Scianna
The month of May is prom season for high school students and the Whitney Young Dolphins girls softball team found themselves in a dilemma as they marched through the Illinois High School state playoffs this week.
Rain had moved their scheduled sectional games back a few days and they found their matchup with Oak Park River Forest (OPRF) for the sectional championship rescheduled for Friday, May 31 at 5:00 pm in suburban Park Ridge. The only problem, their prom at a downtown Chicago hotel had a start time of 7:00 pm that same night, making it virtually impossible for the senior players on the Whitney Young team to attend their year-end prom.
Enter OPRF head girls softball coach James Coughlin who agreed with Dolphins head coach Mike Hinrichs to move the game up to 3:00 p.m.
“Whatever I could do to make the start time earlier for them (Whitney Young) I told Mike we were all for it,” said Coughlin. “He runs a great program and you don’t want to have to make the kids choose between one or the other. We were happy to do it.”
The Dolphins jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a triple by shortstop Chiqui Vazquez and a sacrifice RBI bunt by Kate Coonan. Oak Park (28-8), which was last year’s third-place state finisher, and featured a high-powered offensive attack, had its bats silenced by Dolphins pitcher Nyah Allen who pitched a masterful seven innings on the mound. Allen gave up just two hits and struck out three batters to earn a 2-0 shutout win to advance to the IHSA super sectionals on June 3.
OPRF junior pitcher Anna Topel went toe to toe with Allen for most of the game, pitching seven innings while striking out seven Dolphin hitters in the loss.
“Allen is incredible. We’ve been one of the best hitting teams in the state for the past two years and nobody shuts us out,” noted Coughlin. “We’ve faced her for 14 innings in two games this year and we’ve only scored two runs. I feel like they have as good a chance as anyone to go downstate and win with Allen and the team they have this season. I’m rooting for them. They were terrific today and outplayed us.”
Vasquez was the hitting and defensive star going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, a triple, and a run scored, while making several difficult plays look easy with her stellar defense.
“Chique, with her speed, footwork and good glove, has been a revelation for us, plus her offense presents problems for opposing teams,” said Hinrichs. “We’ve played a lot of good teams in state and nationally, and she’s as good a shortstop as I’ve seen.”
Sophomore Emily Rodriguez was another stalwart on offense going 2-for-3 with an RBI single to give the Dolphins a huge insurance run in the top of the seventh inning for the win.
“We have great chemistry and we all love playing competitive softball. Today is our senior prom and we knew this was going to be a tough game (against Oak Park). I was trying to speed up the game and pitch back to back three and out innings to try and get out of here (to make it to prom), “ Allen said laughing. “We’re excited about this sectional championship and moving on. Our goal is to win against the best in the state, and that’s what’s next with the IHSA super sectionals coming up.”
Hinrichs knows he has the right mix, right now, to continue riding a wave of consistent play that has led to 28 wins and one more victory away from a downstate appearance.
“She (Allen) has been incredible for us and all of our seniors focused today knowing that their prom could be interrupted. They were amazing and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They’re going to walk into that prom with the sectional championship plaque and be the hit of the night,” added Hinrichs.
Whitney Young will play St. Charles North on June 3 in the super sectional final in St. Charles. For more information on Chicago Public League teams, and the IHSA state girl softball playoff schedule visit us on our website at www.cplathletics.com.
Photos by Margo Grogan/Sports Depiction
