Sophomore third baseman Claire Podrebarac has a simple approach when she steps up to the plate for Lemont.
“I just have to keep my confidence and motivation,” Podrebarac said. “As soon as that goes downhill, then my play goes down.”
Podrebarac’s confidence and motivation were sky high going into Monday night’s Class 3A Benedictine Supersectional. She then got three hits in her first three at-bats against Fenwick.
“As soon as I got that first hit, everybody was up, energy was high,” Podrebarac said. “Everybody is motivated. We were all up and it just continued from there.”
Podrebarac singled her first time up. Lemont didn’t capitalize on that, but Podrebarac gave her team a 1-0 lead with an RBI single that scored junior shortstop Jessi Pontrelli in the third.
Lemont went ahead again in the top of the sixth when Podrebarac tripled and scored on a wild pitch for a 2-1 lead.
“As a team we had a lot of confidence in her,” Pontrelli said. “Throughout the entire season, even last year, we knew she could perform.
“She’s been here before, and to see her come and come again, obviously we’re going to get up in the dugout. That’s our chance. Like, oh, we’re going to win this.”
Ultimately, Fenwick won 4-3 on walk-off single by Kyleena Nowinski in the 12th inning, ending a marathon game that had a little of everything.
“It felt like it was going on forever,” Podrebarac said. “We just took one inning at a time and we kind of just pushed through.”
Lemont coach Chris Traina, who’s retiring after a 20-year tenure that included two state championships, confirmed that Podrebarac was one of the catalysts.
“We have Claire in the three spot for a reason because, first of all, she brings a good bat,” Traina said. “But she’s got a good mindset. She’s a student of the game and an all-around competitor.
“She has brought that throughout the whole season for us. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
Podrebarac also was proud of Pontrelli, who reached base four times.
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“Every time she gets up to bat, you know she’s getting a hit,” Podrebarac said. “She can do everything. She hits home runs, she bunts.
“You always know that Jessi is ready and she’s going to get on and it’s going to continue.”
Freshman catcher Hailey Smith-Young hit her second home run of the game, a two-run shot in the sixth, to give the Friars (22-11) a 3-2 lead. But Pontrelli made sure Lemont’s season continued.
With Lemont (28-10) down to its last out in the seventh, Pontrelli ripped a triple to right to score designated player Elisa Cicci and force a 3-3 tie.
“I just watched the girls in the College World Series having that mindset like they’re killer, they’re good hitters,” Pontrelli said. “I wanted to go up with that same mentality.
“I knew this is exactly where I want to be. I’ve been training my whole life for it and put in tons of work and I knew I could do it. It was exactly how I drew it up in my head.”
And even though the ending wasn’t what Lemont envisioned, the effort was.
“It was outstanding,” Traina said. “You’ve got to work your tail off, but we have fun too.
“We’ve got great kids. They’re willing to work, do whatever is asked of them, so I am so proud to walk away with this kind of a game.”
Podrebarac pointed out that Lemont, which returns all but three starters, had fun every day of Traina’s final season.
“Every single play we were always screaming it up,” Podrebarac said. “It was like the best play happened every single time. Even it was a routine ground ball, we were so up and excited.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.