Trojans draw Valparaiso for Chesterton sectional semifinal in softball
Chesterton junior Lexi Smith singles to right to drive in a run during Chesterton’s 17-1 win over Merrillville on April 23.
Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com
During the postseason, rivalries become secondary to the survive-and-advance mentality that all teams embrace in a one-and-done scenario.
The primary motivation for Valparaiso and Chesterton’s softball teams when they meet in a sectional semifinal on Wednesday, May 28, will be advancing to the championship game.
The five-school Chesterton sectional pairings, released Sunday, have Merrillville and Portage meeting in the first game with the winner advancing to play Hobart.
Chesterton won a road game vs. Valparaiso, 14-6, on April 22. The rivals meet again in Chesterton on Wednesday, May 14, then play for a third time two weeks later.
Chesterton is 3-1 vs. the field so far, with a season-opening 10-7 loss to Hobart and wins over Valpo, Merrillville and Portage.
The Trojans started their season 1-5 and have gone 8-1 since, slamming 15 home runs in the past eight games.
The disparity of their record at the start compared to recently can be explained only in part by the relative difficulty of those two portions of the schedule. The difference in the outcomes of Chesterton’s two games vs. LaPorte suggests improvement had a lot to do with it as well. The Trojans were no-hit in a 10-0 home loss to LaPorte on April 9 and defeated the Slicers 9-2 on the road April 30.
This week’s schedule enables the Trojans to again prove they are better than they were early in the season. Lake Central visits Chesterton on Tuesday and the Trojans travel to Crown Point on Wednesday. LC run-ruled the Trojans, 13-2, on April 15. Crown Point (15-2) also run-ruled the Trojans, 15-3, on April 16.
During the current hot streak, Chesterton has scored in double figures in 6 of 9 games. Six players have a season OPS (on base percentage + slugging percentage) of higher than 1.000: junior Hannah Florian (1.273), sophomore Olivia Milton (1.249), senior Alexia Franco (1.195), sophomore Jillienne Pittman (1.171), freshman Payton Cherep (1.146) and senior Claire Demeter (1.052).