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After making history last spring with its first regional championship, the Ridgewood softball co-op set its sights higher for the 2023 prep campaign.
Hoping to contend for a Lincoln Trail Conference title after ’22’s second-place finish, the Spartans achieved that breakthrough by going 17-3 and edging Mercer County by a game for the league crown.
From there, Ridgewood made it back-to-back Illinois Class 1A regional championships by handling LTC rival Abingdon-Avon 9-4 in the West Prairie regional final last Friday at Sciota.
“The girls definitely have that mentality that they’ve known ever since they started with me back in seventh grade,” said Ridgewood coach Renae Leander. “We look to win every single inning, letting our offense carry us and ensuring that our defense is effortless and clean.”
In addition to excelling in those aspects of the game, the Spartans (27-6-1) have gotten strong pitching from junior standout Mya Brown, with classmate Clara Franks proving to be a strong No. 2 hurler.
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“We definitely have a lot of confidence in her,” Leander said of Brown. “At the same time, if teams start to adjust to one pitcher, we’re just as confident in the other as well. Mya and Clara have done a good job backing each other up all year.”
Prior to regionals, Ridgewood finished its regular season playing at the Rockridge Spring Classic and testing itself against some top-notch competition.
It was at that tournament, on the final Saturday of the regular season, that Leander and her club found out they had won their first LTC championship.
Having lost twice to MerCo as well as splitting a pair with Knoxville, the Spartans went into the final weekend more focused on preparing for the postseason rather than thinking of a conference title.
“Honestly, we had all but ruled ourselves out, but we kept holding on and hoping we had a chance,” Leander said. “We were really working the entire year for the postseason. But since (clinching the LTC), the girls have been carrying themselves with a lot more confidence.”
Looking ahead to Tuesday’s Peru St. Bede Sectional opener, Ridgewood finds itself matched up with the host Lady Bruins (23-7) for the second straight year.
Last May, the teams battled into extra innings at the Williamsfield sectional, with St. Bede pulling out a 4-3 win to deny the Spartans a berth in the championship game.
“We played a phenomenal game against St. Bede last year,” said Leander. “We’re going in with confidence, but not being cocky; we know we’ve got to earn it. We’ve got to have that ‘1-0’ mentality we go into every game with, and focus on ourselves.”
