IC Catholic entered the 2017 season with a softball team that featured four freshmen and three sophomores in its starting lineup.
And while few could have predicted the Knights would reach a Class 2A supersectional game, just one win away from advancing downstate, senior shortstop Kaitlyn Falduto had her suspicions.
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“I’m surprised we got this far, but then I’m not because I had a lot of confidence in them,” Falduto said of her young squad. “It was so much fun, and I’m so proud of this team.”
The Knights (21-13) ended their playoff run Monday, losing 10-4 to Beecher in the Class 2A Rosemont Supersectional. Beecher (28-7) led 4-3 through five innings before scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth.
“They’re really good, and we’re really young,” Knights coach Frank Reaber said. “We were hanging with them … but you can’t win with five errors, and they just hit the ball hard. Our motto this year has been ‘win the inning,’ and we lost three of the innings today.”
The Knights led 2-0 in the first inning on a 2-run home run by junior catcher Josie Lytton, but Beecher scored twice in their half of the first. The Knights took a 3-2 lead in the second on an RBI double by sophomore second baseman Natalie Murillo, before Beecher scored twice in the fourth to take a lead it would not relinquish.
IC Catholic scored its final run of the season in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single from freshman first baseman Alessandra Eccardt.
All five Knights miscues came on throwing errors. Freshman left fielder Daniela Murillo and freshman right fielder Emma Lytton each made outstanding catches with runners in scoring position when the game was still close.
With Beecher leading 4-3, Emma Lytton caught a fly ball and threw a runner out at home to end the fifth inning. “She’s got a rocket arm,” Reaber said of Lytton.
As one of only two seniors on the team, and a co-captain along with Josie Lytton, Falduto saw promise in this year’s team during the preseason.
“It started during the winter, when we all started getting to know each other,” Falduto said. “We grew together as a team and when practice started, people were coming to work every day.”
The season’s turning point came after an 11-7 loss to Lisle on April 26. Afterward, Reaber asked his players to go home and think about whether they were giving full effort.
Josie Lytton saw an immediate change among the Knights’ stable of young players.
“They just had to learn from their mistakes, and we had to let them grow up a little bit,” Lytton said. “And they did. They did everything they could. After (the Lisle loss) we all looked at each other and decided we needed to do this together, for each other.”
The Knights won a regional title with 7-0 win over Regina, defeated Latin 18-0 in a sectional semifinal and won their sectional by defeating Westmont 1-0 on Saturday.
Reaber said he plans to move freshman third baseman Brooklyn Campos to shortstop and Daniela Murillo to third base in 2018, “and we’ve got three good freshman coming in next year,” Reaber said.
“(Falduto and Josie Lytton) were unbelievable captains for the team this year. They organized a lot of team stuff together, and our young girls listened to them. It was a good group of kids, and they played hard.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press