Softball: Lemont ready to defend its state title

LEMONT – The numbers might look like they come straight out of a video game set at the easiest level, but as Lemont’s opponents this season can tell you, they are all too real.

Lemont, the defending Class 3A softball state champion, enter Friday’s semifinal against Benet with a 33-1 record. Lemont sports a .410 team batting average and .494 on-base percentage while scoring 328 runs, almost 10 a game, and allowing only 28.

Any pitcher would do well with that kind of run support, but Lemont doesn’t have just any pitcher. Lemont trots out South Carolina-bound Sage Mardjetko.

Mardjetko is 21-0 on the season. In 125 1/3 innings, she has allowed only 16 hits, 18 walks and 12 hit batters. She has allowed only three runs to score against her all season, and none of them have been earned runs, giving her an ERA of 0.00. By masterfully mixing up the six pitches she has in her arsenal, she has struck out 303 of the 376 outs she has recorded this season. And, she is the team’s leading home run hitter with five.

“We just call that Sage being Sage,” Lemont coach Chris Traina said. “She goes out there and does what Sage does.”

Even the fact that Mardjetko has hit 12 batters this season isn’t seen as a bad thing.

“She will brush a girl or two off the plate,” Traina said. “She has the confidence in herself to know that if she hits someone and they get on base, she can pitch around that. And the team has as much confidence in her as she does in herself. She’s been on the big stage a lot, and there isn’t much that fazes her.”

In fact, Mardjetko has been in the state finals every season she has had the chance. There was no tournament in 2020 because of COVID-19, but Lemont has gone to state every year since, finishing second in 2021 and first last season. With all of its starters from last year’s championship team returning, Lemont is considered a strong favorite to repeat last year’s showing.

Motivation has not been a problem.

“These girls play a lot of softball, even in the offseason,” Traina said. “They know that they have to bring their ‘A’ game every day. They are the defending champs, and they have that target on their backs.

“Once the tournament starts [at 10 a.m. Friday at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria against Benet], we are just going to take it one game at a time. We can only play the game in front of us. Every team is there for a reason, and that reason is that they are a very good team. We have to stay focused on who we are and do what we need to do.”

That basically means giving Mardjetko enough runs to work with.

That starts with Mardjetko’s batterymate, catcher Frankie Rita. Rita also is a senior and will play for Drake University. Not only does Rita call the pitches for Mardjetko and guide the defense as the field general, but she also leads the team with a .591 batting average and has scored a team-high 48 runs to go with 23 RBIs.

“Frankie is a player that not many people realize what she does,” Traina said. “They are starting to. She just relates so well to Sage and knows how Sage likes to pitch. She also knows the game inside and out and is like a coach on the field for us. Combine that with her hitting, and she is one heck of a player.”

But Rita is far from the only offensive standout. Junior Avaree Taylor is hitting .543 with nine doubles and 23 RBIs, while junior Raegan Duncan sports a .425 average to go with team highs of 12 doubles and 34 RBIs. Sophomore Olivia Parent is hitting .500 and has scored 33 runs. Sophomore Maya Hollendoner, who scored the winning run in last year’s state title game, has put up a .370 average with nine doubles and 16 RBIs.

“The thing with this team is that it seems like it’s someone different almost every game coming through offensively,” Traina said. “You don’t see any attitude from these girls. They push each other in practice, but it’s constructive. They are just pushing each other because they want the team to do better. These girls are all about the team success over individual success.”