CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois softball signees Morgan Biel (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg HS) and Stephanie Maday (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) had a successful spring season as both future Panthers helped lead their respective prep squad to the Illinois High School Association state finals this past June.
Competing at Class 4A, Biel's Carl Sandburg team picked up the school's first-ever IHSA state softball title, while Maday's Elk Grove unit ended up tying for third place.
In the first inning of the championship game, Biel connected on a two-out, game-winning RBI single to left field, scoring the courtesy runner at second base. The Eagles would eventually hold on to capture the state championship, defeating Palatine Fremd in a 2-1 nail biter. In their semifinal matchup, Sandburg hit past Moline, 4-1, with their 12 total hits setting a new IHSA single-game mark.
In a recent
Southtown Star story, Biel gave an emotional post-game quote regarding her hopes that Sandburg would finish with a high mark this season. "Ohhhh, my gosh," Biel said. "We went all out today. Nothing was holding us back. We really all came together and made our dream happen."
For the tourney, the center fielder finished 3-for-7 at the plate, which included a 2-for-4 performance versus Moline. As a squad, Sandburg finished with a very impressive 40-2 overall record. In eight of the past 11 seasons, Sandburg had previously advanced to the IHSA elite eight, and finished as the state runner-up in 2001.
Meanwhile the other future Panther, Maday, was also impressive as her team took on Palatine Fremd in the state semifinal, but dropped a tough 4-1 game.
As the starting pitcher, Maday struck out three batters and walked two. Facing 13 batters off of 3 1/3 innings of work, the senior limited Fremd to two hits and allowed just one unearned run. She finished the season with a 17-3 record in the circle as the Thundering Herd completed an outstanding season at 36-5 overall. Unfortunately, her squad would end up tying Moline HS for the consolation title as the third place game was rained out.
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
