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opprairie.com sports
The orland park prairie | June 21, 2018 | 47
fastbreak
THURSDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK
New Trier and PFN also had some wild springs
1st and 3
PHOTO SUBMITTED
THREE FACTS ABOUT
ST. MICHAEL’S 2011
WIDGET FOOTBALL
TEAM, WHICH WAS
UNDEFEATED AND
CAPTURED its league
LEAGUE TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Shutout city
The Wildcats
opened the season
with four shutouts
and beat opponents
by a combined score
of 131-0.
2. Comeback kids
Despite the earlyseason
domination,
the late season relied
on thrills as St.
Michael trailed in all
three of its playoff
wins but came back
to win all three.
3. Rare accomplishment
In Mike Mishka’s 14
seasons as the boss
of the Wildcats, it
was only one of two
unbeaten seasons
he was able to
coach.
Jeff Vorva
j.vorva@22ndcm.com
Plainfield North’s girls softball team was a part of a magical three-week stretch for the school’s athletic program. JEFF
VORVA/22ND CENTURY MEDIA
Last week in this
hallowed space, I
bragged about how
special and exciting the finish
to the spring season was
for Sandburg, Andrew and
Tinley Park High School.
Drama. Disappointment.
Postseason championships.
Individual state titles.
We have seen it all.
But there were a couple of
other schools in the Chicago
area that could even top the
cool stuff fans in this area
got to experience: New Trier
and Plainfield North.
Winning state titles is
nothing new for New Trier
as that school has racked up
more than 120 of those bad
boys over the decades. But
what happened on June 2
was pretty remarkable for
the Winnetka school, and it
didn’t even win a state title
that day.
The Trevians woke that
morning with a chance to
win four state championships.
Four in one day!
It didn’t happen, though.
In girls soccer, the nationally-ranked
New Trier squad
(which beat Andrew 5-0 in
the semifinals the day before)
and Barrington battled
in a classic Class 3A game
at North Central College in
Naperville before Barrington
pulled off a 1-0 victory in a
shootout after 100 minutes
of gritty scoreless action.
In the first Illinois High
School Association boys and
girls lacrosse state finals,
New Trier was beaten by
host Hinsdale Central, 13-3,
in the girls game and the
Trevians were stopped by
Loyola in the boys game,
7-2. Two more second-place
finishes.
Finally, in boys volleyball,
the Trevians lost a semifinal
battle to eventual state
champion Lincoln-Way East
14-25, 25-22, 25-17. They
dropped the third-place game
to finish fourth with a 25-15,
25-22 setback to three-time
defending champion Glenbard
West.
True, the four Trevians
teams went 0-5 on the day,
but to be within sniffing
distance of state titles and
bringing home four more
top-4 trophies is jaw-dropping.
That brings us to Plainfield
North.
I’ll wait for the Sandburg
fans to get done cursing
and booing and hissing
(do people hiss anymore?)
before I continue.
All done?
OK, the Tigers started a
nice run at the IHSA State
Boys Track meet as they finished
third in Class 3A. But
the amazing accomplishment
was that sophomore Marcellus
Moore won the 100-meter
dash (10.31 seconds) and
200 (21.30) and was a key
member of the state championship
400 and 800 relay
teams. Four-for-four.
The Tigers’ softball team
(OK, lets wait a few more
minutes for the Sandburg
fans to stop booing and hissing)
knocked off the Eagles
in the Class 4A Hinsdale
South Supersectional, 5-4
when Ryan Schaughnessy hit
a two-out, two-strike, threerun
homer in the bottom
of the seventh to break the
Eagles’ hearts,
North ended up finishing
second in the state in the
Class 4A playoffs.
Meanwhile, North’s baseball
team also made it to the
state semifinals and on June
8, the Tigers ran into...yep,..
Sandburg.
I’ll plug my ears for a few
minutes while the Sandburg
fans vent again.
OK, the Tigers knocked
off the Eagles, 7-3, in the
semis in Joliet and the next
night beat Huntley, 4-3, for
the first team state championship
in school history.
From a local standpoint,
it’s a shame that Andrew and
Sandburg played victims
in some of the storylines of
New Trier and Plainfield
North.
But you have to give them
credit. These were a couple
of special weeks for those
two schools.
LISTEN UP
“Most of the time we knew we won before
we even took the field.”
Danny Meehan - A member of the St. Michael football team
that went unbeaten in 2011
What 2 Watch
Auto racing, Tuesday, June 26, 3:30 p.m.
• NASCAR driver Justin Allgaier will speak to kids from
7th-through-12th grades at the Bridge Teen Center,
15555 S. 71st Ct. in Orland Park.
INDEX
42 - Athlete of the Week
42 - Baseball
Compiled by Sports Editor Jeff Vorva, J.vorva@22ndcm.com