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18U travels to California for the Batbuster's Recruiting Tournament.

The team went 5 - 2 at this prestigious tournament and had the opportunity to play some great teams from California, Arizona, Washington and Montana. The tournament draws a large number of coaches from all divisions and conferences from around the country. For more information go to the Surf City tournament site.

                          ALL Lightning Seniors are Committed and Signed to their Universities!

                         Another year and again, 100% of the Lightning players are recruited and signed to continue playing
                         softball as collegiate student-athletes.

Congratulations to all of our 2009 seniors, your hard work and dedication have paid off!

        Jessica Dobson      - Wright State University               Desi DeMarco   - Minnesota State University Moorhead
        Kelly Chesnut        - Lake Forest College                   Elle Gerdes        - Winona State University
        Maggie Kopas     - Grand Valley State University     Sam Stanicek     - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Lightning Players (2008) Honored! All Area / All Conference / Super 60

        Laura Christensen - All Conference, Super 60
        Desi DeMarco - All Area (3rd Team)
        Jackie Dugan - All Conference, All Area (1st Team)
        Elle Gerdes - All Conference
        Sam Stanicek - All Conference, All Area

Lightning Players (2007) Honored! All Area / All Conference / Super 60

         Alicia Abbott - All Area, All Conference, Super 60 , All State (Special Mention)
        Courtney Chigaros - All Conference, Super 60, All State (Special Mention)
        Nicole Costello - All Area, All Conference, Super 60         Carly DeMarco - All Conference, Super 60
        Alicia McKendry - All Conference, All Area (3rd Team)    Carolynn Kratochvil - All Conference
        Samantha Stanicek - All Conference (Honorable Mention)   Ashley Rotkvich - All Conference

18U team goes 6 - 2 and finishes 3rd at the Sparks College Exposure Tournament (July 19 - 22).
The Lightning finished 3rd in this tough field of 64 teams at the Sparks College Exposure Tournament. It was a tough Sunday morning draw for the team. The Lightning began the day at 7:30 AM by defeating the Xtreme Havoc 2 - 1 in 11 innings, in a well played game by both teams. Immediately following that game, the Lightning took on Compuware, winning by a final of 3 - 1. The players jumped in their cars and headed back to the main complex to take on the Rockers - DD. The Rockers struck first in the 4th inning on a two run home run by the always tough Michelle Batts. The Lightning responded with 4 runs of their own to gain a 4 - 2 advantage. In the 6th, the Rockers added a run, when Michelle Batts hit a mammoth shot of about 265 ft. Michelle was held to a triple however, on two good throws, but scored when the next batter singled to cut the lead to 1. Stacy Struzynski came on in relief and shut the Rockers down, and the Lightning prevailed 4 - 3. Next up was the Hawks - Franzen. The Hawks seemed to find all of the right spots, as several short fly balls landed just beyond the infield and just inside of the foul lines. The Hawks offense was rolling and after 3 tough games already, there just was not enough gas in the tank to stop their momentum. The Hawks avenged their earlier season loss by a final of 9 - 1, and went on to the next game where they defeated the Midland Magic to win the Championship.

The 18U team goes 4 - 0 at Central Michigan University.
The team played indoors at the Chippewa's beautiful facility. The players had the opportunity to interact with CMU's coaches and players, as they were coached by CMU staff. The Lightning combined great hitting, defense and pitching enroute to an impressive performance. Most of all, everyone had a great time. Thanks Coach Jonker and staff for including us in this terrific event.

Gold Team wins the 2010 ASA Region 10 Championship!!

The Lightning Gold team won the Regional Championship with a hard fought 3-2 victory over the Chill Gold! The Lightning began their tournament with a 6 - 0 win over the Hawks Franzen, who earlier came off of an exciting 2 - 1 win over the Midland Magic. Next up was the Hawks Betcher team who had an impressive tournament with a 1-0 win over the Southern Force and 2-1 win over the Chill Gold. The Lightning jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, however the hawks answered with 2 runs on a passed ball and a base hit, to cut into the lead. The Lightning added 2 more runs while putting runners on base and keeping pressure on the Hawks throughout the game and securing the 5-2 win. Meanwhile, the Chill Gold played back through the losers bracket, beating the Midland Magic and Southern Force to earn a rematch with the Hawks Betcher team and the opportunity to play the Lightning in the Championship game. This time the Chill prevailed with an impressive 8-0 win over the Hawks to setup the Championship matchup. In the first game, both teams played well and took a 2-2 tie into the top of the 7th. The Chill got a leadoff walk followed by a hard hit ball that went in and out of the pitchers glove and another hit loaded the bases. The Lightning managed to get a 5-2 groundout and infield fly for the next two outs, but the Chill rattled off several hits to score 6 runs on the inning. The Lightning were not able to answer and fell 8-2 to the Chill. The win setup the "IF" game, with the winner taking the Gold National Bid. Again, a great game went into the 7th inning tied 2-2, following a Zadrozny solo home run. Gina Brown reached base on a short fly ball that fell in and advanced to second on an errant throw. Unable to advance the runner, Megan Butler delivered the key 2 out hit, a scorched sinking line drive, that scored Gina on some brilliant base running to avoid the tag. The Lightning made the lead stand up and took the Championship with a 3-2 complete game victory for Caitlyn Santefort.

2009 Season Recap

It was both a trying season and also a very rewarding one. First, the team received great news, learning that Tarah Ettinger had made the Canadian National Team. However, it meant that Tarah, our four hitter, would be practicing and competing with both the Senior National team and Junior National team during the summer. Second, there was a rash of injuries during our players' high school seasons that knocked out several starters for the summer, followed by misfortunes and injuries that caused a couple of other players to miss key tournaments. Elle Gerdes and Gina Brown both played through a lot of pain to complete the year and make as many tournaments as their bodies would allow. However, a welcome return by Maggie Kerrigan (GVSU), who had missed the previous summer with a broken finger, was a huge lift to the team.

The Team got off to a bit of a slow start as everyone adjusted to some new roles (injuries) and getting back into playing shape after coming off of their high school seasons. As the season progressed though, the team continued to improve its play, and our pitchers stepped up in a big way with their pitching, and also filling in on defense and hitting as well. We had a very good tournament at the Bloomington Sector qualifier, finishing tied for 3rd place, a solid Oklahoma City National qualifier performance and played our best ball of the year at the Regional Qualifier.

At the Regional, the Lightning defeated the Stone City Sharks, Outburst, Indiana Shockwaves and Team Indiana in bracket play. The Lightning looked poised to punch their ticket to the Gold Nationals, playing impressively throughout the tournament. In the battle of the two unbeaten teams, the Lightning jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead dominating the game with the Midland Magic through 4 innings. However, two defensive miscues led to a big two out rally by the Magic, who took a 6-3 lead in the inning. The Lightning threatened to regain the lead in each of the remaining innings but could not get the big hit, and managed to only close the gap to 6-4. In the playback game the Lightning defeated Team Indiana and then took on the Southern Force. In another great game between these two teams, the Lighting had a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the 7th, but were unable to hold off a rally by the Force. Despite the disappointment, we were very proud of our players effort and the heart that they showed in the tournament and throughout the season, working hard to overcome adversity. Good Luck to our Seniors, we know you will make a great contribution to your universities. For our younger returning players, let's set our goal on getting to the Gold Nationals next year.

2008 NAFA National Champs!!

2008 NAFA Champions - A tough team that played with a lot of heart!
Front Row: Sam Stanicek, Maggie Kerrigan, Alicia Abbott, Alicia McKendry
Second Row: Laura Christensen, Elle Gerdes, Jackie Dugan, Erin Schneider
Third Row: Desi DeMarco, Nina Ioakimidis, Carly DeMarco, Stacey Struzynski

The New Lenox Lightning captured the 2008 NAFA National Championship by defeating the KC Zephyrs Gold in a 9 inning 5-4 victory.

The Lightning were undefeated in the tournament, with wins over the Indy Explosion, St. Louis Esprit, St. Louis Menaces, Southern Illinois Diamonds, Oklahoma Dynamite Gold, Illinois Thunder and KC Zephyrs Gold. During bracket play, the Lightning and Zephyrs were undefeated and played in the semi-final game with the Lightning taking a 5-4 win, after holding off a furious rally by the Zephyrs in the bottom of the seventh. The Lightning then waited for the conclusion of the playback bracket, where the Zephyrs prevailed and returned to play the Lightning in the Championship game. It was a thrilling game in which the Lightning grabbed an early 2 run lead, were tied at 2 in the third inning and then the Zephyrs gained a 2 run advantage in the fourth. The Lightning evened the score at 4 apiece in the 6th inning and threatened in the bottom of the seventh but could not score the winning run. In the NAFA, there is no international tie breaker, so in the 8th inning, each team was able to get a lead-off runner on but could not push the run across with excellent defensive plays turned in by both teams. The Lightning were able to get the decisive run in the bottom of the 9th, with Alicia McKendry on 1st and Sam Stanicek, who had a tremendous offensive performance the entire tournament, on 3rd with one out, Stanicek was able to score on a wild pitch and close play at the plate. Additionally, Stacey Struzynski was named the Tournament MVP for her impressive 6-0 pitching performance, and 9 inning championship win.