Joliet West softball begins year with loss to Andrew

JOLIET - The 2024 season was solid for the Joliet West softball team as it went 19-12 and reached a regional final.

This year, there’s talent back, but also a lot of youth with roughly half the roster comprised of freshmen and sophomores.

In the season opener against Andrew, that youth was evident.

The Tiger defense committed five errors while the offense managed just one hit against the the Thunderbolts, which came in the final inning of play. That, and a five-run second inning for the visitors resulted in a lopsided 8-0 loss for Joliet West.

Joliet West (0-1) came into the year with some solid experience in senior pitcher Madison Jadron, senior infielder Hope Hughes and junior infielder Ella Featherston. Jadron was an All-Southwest Prairie Conference player last year and is an Indiana Tech commit, Hughes hit .312 and is a Concordia University commit and Featherston hit .425 with 21 RBIs.

On Friday, Featherston and Jadron managed to draw walks with Jadron striking a batter out in the circle. However, Jadron was pulled after 1 2/3 innings after allowing four hits and six runs, though only one of them was earned as the high wind and inexperience of the Tiger defense stood out.

The Tigers were also without head coach Heather Suca, who was away from the team for personal matters. Assistant coach Serena Cruz emphasized this was the first game of the year and the Tigers are still figuring out how it will all look.

“We wanted to take a look at our pitchers,” Cruz said. “We have five quality pitchers, including two freshmen, and I thought they did well. Defensively, we didn’t make the plays behind them. I think it’s a different game if we make those plays.”

There were some bright spots for the Tigers. MaTaia Lawson, a University of Texas commit for the Thunderbolts, didn’t have an RBI and Joliet West held Andrew scoreless for the final three innings of play after a rough four to start. Alaina Grohar earned a pair of walks in three at-bats for Joliet West, while Mackenzie Mielke got the lone hit in the seventh inning.

Cruz believes this team is capable of getting where it needs to be with the veteran leadership it possesses.

“We’re relying on our (experienced) starters,” Cruz said. “Hope at catcher, Madison in the circle, Ella being a varsity starter in her third year. Just in practice, having them communicate with the kids and letting them know where they’re supposed to be. They’re doing a good job and they’re leaders on our team for a reason because they practice what they preach while working hard.”

Still, after nearly getting no-hit, Cruz would also like to see some improvement on offense.

“(I’d like us to) make more contact at the plate,” she said. “We work hard in practice, but we just need to put the ball in play more. We need to make the other team make the plays more and I think we struggled with that today. ... Can’t win a ball game without runs and you can’t score runs without hits.”

Jadron, for what it’s worth, echoed Cruz’s sentiment that with time and experience, this group could wind up getting where it needs to be.

“We had a lot of freshmen and sophomores coming in that are new starters,” Jadron said. “We’re just figuring out the pieces to the puzzle. ... I have big goals. Reaching the regional championship game and maybe making it even further.”

Joliet West visits Lincoln-Way West on Monday.