Analysis: Two South Suburban Conference Softball Contenders Go Toe-to-Toe

With two of the South Suburban Conference contenders going at it on the softball diamond Tuesday afternoon, the only thing holding fans back from a great time was the biting cold weather.

“We totally respect Oak Forest’s program,” Richards coach Julie Folliard said. “It’s always been good matchups between our two programs, and today was a nail-biter. Give credit to them.”

Folliard said that her team’s tenacity was key for .

“I’m really proud of how hard our kids competed,” Folliard said. “That’s what we’re really fighting for this year. We have a lot of room for growth, but I’m really proud of the tenacity.”

Bulldogs starting pitcher Brianna Lebeau said she always gets energized to play Oak Forest.

“It means a lot. They’re always a good team to play. We always come out our hardest,” said Lebeau (3-0), who pitched eight innings of shutout ball and scored the game’s only run.

Looking Ahead: While tenacity was the key for the Bulldogs, Oak Forest coach Paige Stryczek said a lack of intensity was a key issue for the Bengals.

“We’ve been talking about intensity for the last couple weeks and I don’t think that we brought the intensity today,” Stryczek said after Tuesday’s game. “I feel like we just kind of showed up and expected to win, and you can’t do that against good teams.”

Stryczek said her veteran infield will need to lead the team in picking up its intensity.

Folliard said her team needs to continue to build confidence moving forward.

“We’re working hard individually,” Folliard said, “but everyone doesn’t have their confidence yet. I don’t think we all have our swag going on yet. And that’s something that we’re going to work towards.”