Girls Softball: South Tops North, Ends Spartans' Season

After matching five hits with five errors against No. 2 seed Glenbrook South on Thursday, 's softball team watched its season come to a close.

The No. 6-seeded Spartans fell to the rival Titans 8-1 in the IHSA Class 4A New Trier Sectional Semifinals at Duke Childs Field in Winnetka, just one win away from earning a rematch with top-seeded , who had eliminated the Spartans in each of the previous two seasons.

"They're good hitters - they really are," GBN head coach Jenn Mau said of her Spartans (16-11-1). "We had the same amount of hits as they did, but obviously the runs didn't show the same.

"It's kind of hard to win games when you have as many errors as you do hits, but these girls came out here and fought like they did everyday - that's all we could ask for."

Much to the credit of Titans pitcher Jen Zucker, Glenbrook North struggled from the plate all afternoon. Zucker struck out 10 batters in the win and second baseman Mykenzie Buzzard finished 3-3 with 5 RBI to power Glenbrook South (23-10) on offense.

However, on the brink of being shut out, GBN rallied to put a run on the board in the top of the seventh inning. Freshman pitcher led off with a single but was forced out at second on a Katie Riley grounder to third. Riley later advanced to second on a passed ball and scored two batters on catcher Jenny McTague's RBI single to left.

"These girls have a lot of heart," Mau said. "They're young, they're competitive and they want to play. They're always ready to compete and I hope this is just another lesson learned - another bump in the road - and they'll be ready to go next year."

Speaking of next year, Glenbrook North is set to return all but one player from its 2011 squad. Three-year varsity starting shortstop was the team's only senior, but thrived in her leadership role.

"I actually liked being the only senior," said Synek, who led the Spartans with a plus-.450 batting average. "When I found out originally, I didn't think I was going to, but as we started playing, the girls started to look up to me. It was awesome."

"[Lindsay] did it all," Mau added. "On the field she was an amazing player to watch and she was an amazing player at the plate. We're going to have a huge hole to fill."

Synek also led the Spartans to back-to-back regional championships. She will continue her softball career at Oakton Community College.

"I didn't want this to end - I wasn't ready yet," Synek said in near disbelief. "I'm definitely going to miss the girls. We always had fun - even at practices we would goof off here and there. I've been playing with them for a long time and they're a really fun group."

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