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the Homer Horizon | April 27, 2017 | 47
fastbreak
Softball
Lockport honors 1997 state champs, win two
1st and 3
Erin Redmond/
22nd Century Media
Lockport boys
volleyball stays hot
with victory over
Knights
1. A conference
opponent
The Lockport
Township boys
volleyball team
kicked off the
conference slate by
beating Lincoln-Way
Central 23-25, 25-
18, 25-23 at home
Thursday, April 20,
at Central Campus.
2. A battle throughout
Despite Lockport
coming in with 19
straight wins, the
Knights were a big
test for the Porters,
taking the first set
and keeping Set 3
a tight contest until
the end.
3. Taking charge
Anthony Pfeiffer
led the team with
a double-double,
recording 10 kills
and 15 assists to
help take down the
Knights.
Former players
reminisce on title,
inspire current team
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
The Lockport Township
softball team of two decades
ago had an attitude — a winning
attitude.
When the 1997 Class AA
Illinois High School Association
Tournament State
Softball Tournament ended,
the Porters were state champions.
This year’s version of the
Lockport softball team is off
to its best start since that 1997
season. So it was only appropriate
that the 1997 state
champion squad was honored
for their 20th anniversary in
between games of a doubleheader
on Saturday, April 22,
at the Lockport softball field.
This season’s Porter team
continued its torrid start with
a doubleheader sweep of
Schaumburg by the scores of
9-2 and 7-2. But this year’s
model has not divulged if it
had the same sort of moxie
in a preseason prediction like
the 1997 team did.
“We all saw [local sports
reporter] Gary Seymour at a
volleyball match the fall before
our season,” 1997 Lockport
softball star Ginny Georgantas
said. “We told him
that we were going to win
state.”
Georgantas was one of
eight seniors and was the
leading hitter on the team
that backed up that claim.
The other seniors were Tracy
Beneventi, Gina Calderone,
Peggy Casey, Dawn
Glasscock, Vicki Rinando,
Amy Somerville and Renay
Wilkinson. The juniors were
Rachael Bambrick, Meghan
Fisher, Jenny Lindemann,
Candice Polino and Lisa
Rinando.
Sophomores were Katie
Blackmore, Kristen Perry
and Jenny Stringham. Freshman
Shannon Lindgren was
the team’s top pitcher most of
the season, going 17-2 with
an ERA of 0.91 and striking
out 145 in 138 1/3 innings.
But she got hurt for the postseason,
making the Porters
run to the title even more improbable.
Longtime coach Barb
Burk, who had a record of
685-194 and took seven
teams downstate as Porter
coach between 1973-2002,
knew she had a special squad
in her 25th year.
“They worked together,
and they worked to improve
each other,” she said. “Our
goal as a team was to win,
and losing was not an option.
There’s a difference between
playing a game and playing
to win, and they were playing
to win.”
Burk, who just turned 72
on April 18, was the girls
sports coordinator for 15
years at Lockport and was involved
in assistant coaching
many other sports. But softball
was her love and passion.
In 2011, she was rewarded
with National Association of
Girls And Women’s Sports
Pioneer Award in San Diego.
Currently, Burk lives on
her family’s long- held farm
in Arkansas, but she was
happy to be in attendance for
the reunion. When she was
coach at Lockport, she often
had sayings she would tell
her team. She related another
one of those last Saturday.
“If you want to be the best,
you have to do more than the
rest,” said Burk, whose lucky
number is 13. “It was so special
after 20 years to see these
girls. I’m so proud of them.”
She had a lot to be proud of
those 20 years ago. The Porters
breezed through the regular
season with only three
losses. In the postseason,
they hosted their own regional,
where they shut out their
first two opponents and then
beat Naperville North 11-5
for the regional title. In the
East Aurora Sectional, they
defeated Waubonsie Valley
4-1 and then won a hardfought
3-2 games in eight innings
against Providence.
There was no supersectional
in those days, so that
sent Lockport to state for
the fourth time in 11 seasons.
The games then were
held at Mineral Springs Park
in Pekin. Glasscock fired a
one-hitter in a 5-0 win over
Loyola in the quarterfinal.
That was followed by a 3-2
win over Belleville West, as
Vicki Rinando knocked in
the winning run in the bottom
of the eighth.
The state title game was
epic, as Lockport battled
Morton for 15 innings. It was
tied 1-1 through seven innings,
and both teams scored
in the ninth to extend the
game. In the top of the 15th,
Vicki Rinando once again hit
in what proved to be the winning
run as the Porters beat
the Potters 3-2 for their first
state title. Lockport finished
38-3, which is still a school
record for wins in a season.
Georgantas, who is currently
doing her dream job
being a detective with the
Cook County Sheriff’s Office,
came in relief of Glasscock
and only allowed one
hit in pitching the final three
innings to get the win.
“I got the win, but Dawn
[Glasscock] deserved the
win,” Georgantas said. “She
pitched her heart out. I remember
that, and at the end
Jenny Lindemann made a
diving catch [at third with
a runner on base] to end
the game. She got up and
slammed the ball into the
ground, and then we all met
in the middle of the circle to
celebrate.
Blackmore is now Dr. Katie
Meader. As a sophomore,
she was the starting right
fielder and leadoff hitter on
the team. She had two hits
and scored a run in the title
game.
“We were all confident in
our position,” Meader said.
“Everyone was so different,
and you couldn’t get a much
more unique group. But we
knew we all wanted it, and
we and we came together for
one common goal.
“There’s always Lockport
pride, and the tradition was
here before me and after me.
The state championship was
one of my top moments. Regardless
of wherever I am in
my life, I’m proud to be a
Porter.”
Someone else who was
extremely proud of that
1997 team was assistant
coach Amber Podlesny. Between
her and her older sister,
Leigh, they were the ace
pitchers at Lockport between
1985-1992. Leigh pitched the
Porters to the Class AA title
game in 1987, and Amber did
the same in 1990, but both
times were heartbreaking 1-0
losses.
“It was a sense of relief
that we could finally break
through,” Amber said of the
1997 team. “We did it, and I
cried. It didn’t matter if it was
then or 20 years before then,
we did it, and it melted our
hearts. It was a big moment,
not only for the team and the
player, but for the community.”
This season’s Porter team
hopes to make that sort of
impact in the end, too. The
Porters got off to a 12-0 start,
the best since 1997, and improved
to 17-2 after the doubleheader
sweep on Saturday.
In Game 1, Lockport jumped
out to a 9-0 lead, as senior
Please see softball, 45
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“Yeah, we want to win conference, but it’s
the playoffs at the end of the year we’re
preparing for. Getting this win and moving
forward is huge.”
Nick Mraz — Lockport boys volleyball coach, on the win
over Lincoln-Way Central and goals going forward
Tune In
Boys Volleyball
On the road again — 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27, at
Andrew
• The Porters travel to Tinley Park to take on the
Thunderbolts, hoping to maintain the success the
team has had this year.
Index
41 - This Week In
40 - Athlete of the Week
FASTBREAK is compiled by Editor Thomas Czaja, tom@
homerhorizon.com.