New Coach, Players Focus On Softball Future

Evanston’s softball program hasn’t mustered a winning record on the varsity level since the 2019 season, when the Wildkits won their second straight Central Suburban League South division championship under head coach Amy Gonzales.

But the Kits are putting that past behind them with a new coach and a new cast of players.

Gonzales resigned last spring after Evanston graduated 10 seniors, to spend more time with her family, and opportunity is knocking with the roster turnover. And although the Wildkits opened the 2026 season with a 7-5 loss to Niles North, new head coach Greg Liske believes a new era is dawning in the program.

“I’m not looking at the past, I’m looking to the future,” said Liske, who spent the past seven seasons as the junior varsity coach at Chicago Taft. “I see some real potential for the future here. The talent level is better than I expected and I think they’ll prove they can compete in the Central Suburban League.

“We won a couple of city championships (at Taft) and it just got to the point where I wanted a bigger challenge. I thought it was time for me to be a varsity coach, and that’s why I came here. We’re looking to bolster our strengths in this program game by game, week by week, year by year. What happened before doesn’t matter.”

Liske inherits one of those “good news, bad news” situations as a head coach. Only three members of the current ETHS roster saw action at the varsity level last season when the Kits stumbled to a final record of 6-19 overall and 1-9 in league play.

Pitcher Jessia Frolichstein, now a senior, compiled a stat line she’d probably rather forget in 2025. Her 1-2 won-loss record in 10 innings in the circle included a 7.70 earned run average. Madeline Berry proved productive as a freshman catcher in the middle of the batting order, batting .281 and ranking third on the squad in runs-batted-in.

Esha Ghose, a sophomore, pitched in two games as a varsity “cup of coffee” her freshman season.

The Kits did get a boost when Sophie Berger-White returned to the program after choosing not to play last year. She played at an all-conference level for ETHS as a sophomore and her presence at shortstop will solidify Evanston’s defense, along with the big bat she brings to the middle of the lineup.

New faces are in new places everywhere else. Liske admitted that a regular lineup hasn’t been determined yet and he plans to platoon in the early stages of the schedule to make sure there are opportunities for all.

The starting lineup versus Niles North featured Berry behind the plate, Berger-White at shortstop, junior Kathleen Lindsay-Ryan at first base, sophomore Evelyn Kaiser at second base, and junior Andrea Clark at third base. Junior Emma Reese, junior Madelyn Golem and senior Samantha Blix earned starting nods in the outfield.

Also vying for playing time are senior outfielder Siena Bowen and junior catcher Cheyanne Reziere.

Liske believes pitching will be a strength for ETHS this spring, even though it was just a couple of seasons ago that the Wildkits didn’t have enough mound depth to cover all three levels in the program because girls coming through the feeder program didn’t want to pitch.

Now the Kits have it covered. Frolichstein and sophomore Samara Herman-Lopez split the pitching chores against Niles North, and Golem and Ghose will also be in the mix moving forward.

“Right now we have four varsity pitchers, three JV pitchers and two JV2 pitchers, so I think we have it covered,” Liske pointed out. “I thought Jessica and Samara were both outstanding against Niles North. Jessica has strong movement on her pitches, and Samara is more of a power pitcher. They both performed well in that game.

“Pitching is always at a premium. You can never have too many pitchers, and we’re blessed to have (former ETHS starter) Jaden Janzen as our pitching specialist (coach) to help out this year. We know you can’t thrive without good pitching.

“So far all of the girls have impressed me, in their own right. Across the board everyone brings something to the table for us. Everything this year is brand new and we’re trying to give them all opportunities to see who can perform when it’s time to perform. I think their biggest strength is their togetherness. They’re so close and they have so much fun together. They love playing the game, and that’s the mindset I’ll continue to push for the entire program. I think our togetherness will keep us in a lot of games.”

The Wildkits play their home opener Thursday against Payton Prep, weather permitting. Two more home games are set for Saturday, versus Ridgewood at 10 a.m. and Batavia at 2 p.m.