Glenbrook South seniors make an impact

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

SOFTBALL — Glenbrook South doesn’t have a long history of success in the state playoffs.

That’s why the Titans were happy to be playing for a sectional championship on Saturday against New Trier. While they weren’t pleased with their performance, but they appreciate the accomplishment.

“Our team was so dominated with seniors that one of our goals was to advance far in the postseason,” Glenbrook South coach Kay Sopocy said. “They did that, but it was disappointing we didn’t go further. We didn’t play up to our capabilities.”

The Titans hurt themselves at New Trier with four errors in an 8-1 loss to the top-seeded Trevians. A big blow came in the bottom of the second when an infielder muffed a routine grounder that would have ended inning, but instead turned into two runs for New Trier.

“We pride ourselves with tough defense, excellent fundamentals,” Sopocy said. “It was just disappointing to have some of those things fail us.

“An explanation? Who knows? Nerves, maybe. But I thought we were in a good place going into the game. Give New Trier credit. They got the job done.”

Glenbrook South finished 23-11 and played in its first sectional final since 2001. The Titans beat rival Glenbrook North in the sectional semifinals to get that far. They won 47 in the past two seasons.

Four of the team’s five all-CSL South selections were seniors, including Julia Williams, Maddy Stark, Mykenzie Buzard and Kim Lohre.

While the Titans came into this spring with experienced players, the future is more of an unknown after losing 10 seniors. The one player expected back who made big contributions this season is junior all-league pitcher Jen Zucker.

“The 10 seniors dominated our lineup,” Sopocy said. “Jen got a lot of innings, and we have some young pitchers coming up. We will have a different set of talent.”