Arlington Heights Softball Champs in League of Their Own

There may not be any crying in baseball, but there was a lot of sweat and tears of joy for the team-driven White Sox at the division championship softball game against the undefeated Royals last Saturday night at Melas Park.

The scrappy softball players came to play, for their second game of the day and, despite extreme heat conditions, higher ranked opponents and a large, raucous crowd, the White Sox won a very tight game to take first place.

According to mother of four, White Sox superfan and head coach Nancy Naughton, “This was a true team effort, I am so proud of everyone. Each girl added something to this season. No one girl carried the team. That’s what made this team work so well.”

Representatives from all twelve teams, 168 girls, current and former coaches and assistant coaches, umpires, parents, friends and interested parties all gathered for the championship game at 5:30 p.m. at Melas Park, field #2. 

The White Sox jumped out to an early lead that they held throughout the game in a tightly contested battle until the end.

The Sox were up 10-3 in the bottom of the fifth which saw the Royals score four runs to make it 10-7.

The Royals closer came in and held the White Sox bats silent in the top of the sixth by striking out the side 1-2-3. With crowds numbering in the 100s and a huge amount of electricity in the air, the Royals came to bat in the bottom of the sixth needing three runs to push the game into extra innings and four to win.  

They loaded the bases and put one run across homeplate only to see the White Sox hold on to a towering pop-up in front of 2nd base with their Short Center fielder, Second Baseman and Shortstop all converging on the ball and their Shortstop holding on, then getting the final two outs to secure their 10-8 victory.

Article submitted by Patti Thomas