Lockport junior Morgan Spodarek was in a traffic jam at the start of her first varsity season. Including herself, there were three catchers trying out.
Spodarek stepped out of her comfort zone when she talked about it with coach Marissa Chovanec.
“I just really wanted to play,” Spodarek said. “So I told her I could play first base.”
The thing was, she really hadn’t played first before.
“Honestly, I keep balls in front of me as a catcher,” Spodarek said. “So I’m not afraid of the ball. I’ve been playing forever and taken ground balls and stuff. I thought I could do it.”
Spodarek has made just two errors this season playing first base for the Porters (27-7).
“She came off a great sophomore team,” Chovanec said. “We have a lot of talent in this junior class, and they’ve all worked really hard to find their place. Morgan has owned her position well.”
Spodarek has also been one of the team leaders on offense, batting .412 with seven doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 34 RBIs.
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“I’ve always been able to hit the ball far, just not as consistent,” Spodarek said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve put in a lot of work with my dad and it’s paying off.”
The colleges are starting to notice. An assistant from Illinois-Chicago was among the crowd May 17 when Spodarek capped a seventh-inning comeback with a bases-loaded hit to end a 4-3 victory over Joliet Catholic.
Spodarek knew she was being watched.
“Yeah, I did,” Spodarek said, smiling. “Honestly, I just tried to do my best, clear my head and do what I do. If I tried too hard, I probably would have not done what I did.”
Autumn springs up: De La Salle’s Autumn Kelleher, a senior catcher, was surprised for a couple of reasons when she was chosen the GCAC White’s player of the year.
“I completely forgot that it was even a thing, honestly,” Kelleher said. “When coach (Frankie Castagna) told me, it meant a lot. I had been working really hard to prepare for this.
“I was in the gym a lot during the preseason, working and practicing. I tried to focus in, especially having committed to college and getting ready for the next level.”
Kelleher, a Southeastern Iowa recruit, is batting .427 with six doubles, nine home runs and 44 RBIs for the Meteors (18-14).
“She is a program maker,” Castagna said. “In her three years as a starter, she has probably caught about 99% of our games.
“Autumn has been a difference maker since she came in as a sophomore. She’s a great leader on and off the field. She deserves to be player of the year.”
Smart swings: Senior shortstop Mack Brow is putting up some stellar offensive numbers for Joliet Catholic.
The Northern Kentucky recruit is batting .415 with 36 runs, 13 doubles, four triples and 26 RBIs.
But what has Angels coach Tina Kinsella the most impressed is how Brow is doing it.
“Mack has, this season more so than in any other, done a phenomenal job of placing her hits,” Kinsella said. “She knows where we need the hit to go, depending on where our base runners are. If we have runners in scoring position, she knows specifically that she’s going right side.
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“She doesn’t just go up there with, ‘I’m swinging the bat and I’m going to hit the ball hard.’ She thinks strategically about her at-bats and how she can help the team where the team needs it to be.”
It goes beyond hitting.
“She has been a coach’s dream as a spokesperson,” Kinsella said. “When you need little things done like trying to get the team motivated, messages out to the team, she is the senior I go to as a bridge from coach to players.”