Richards Disappointed With Loss, But Excited About Future

Richards standout pitcher Brianna LeBeau wanted to make it to state as much as anybody.

When the Bulldogs lost to Benet 4-1 in the Class 4A Hinsdale South Supersectional Monday in Darien, however, she felt bad for Richards coach Julie Folliard the most.

“She’s a great coach and she loves the game more than any of us,” LeBeau said. “It would’ve meant a lot to get her down to state for the first time.”

Richards (32-3) fell one win shy of the program’s first state berth since placing second in 1985 with Larry Layne as the head coach. Folliard just completed her 23^rd season at the helm and was won at least 20 games in 19 seasons, but has never had a team advance to state.

“It was a great season,” LeBeau said. “We definitely didn’t want it to end. Either way, we were going to be filled with emotions, good or bad, depending on if we won or lost. It would’ve been a great win for us, but you learn from every loss and hopefully we can learn from this and take it into next year.

"We’re real excited about how many people we have coming back. We’re going to really work hard in the summer and see if we can get back here again next season.”

Richards overcame a 1-0 deficit in the top of the sixth inning when Hannah Jenkins singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Breanna Kaminski and scored on an RBI single by Danielle Kappel to even the score at 1-1.

Benet (30-10), however, answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to foil Richards’ hopes of a state berth.

“We had an amazing season,” Richards senior Kailie Tobin said. “I love this team to death. We always put all the heart we have into every game and we did that again today. We just didn’t quite have it, but we played until the end and never gave up.

"I think they’re capable of winning state next year. If they keep working hard together, they can make another run next year.”

Richards, which won its first 28 games this season and won a conference championship with a 19-0 record, will graduate just center fielder Tobin and senior catcher Kristen Renken.

“Next year is going to be entirely different,” Folliard said. “They’re going to grow so much over the next seven months. I want them to come back with the same selfless attitude and same great energy and be the same great people they are. I know they’re talented, but talent alone won’t get you this far. It really comes from that special chemistry and, boy, did we have it this year.”

Folliard knows it will be difficult to replace Tobin and Renken.

“Kailie Tobin has just been a leader in every department you can imagine,” Folliard said. “She’s going to pitching lessons (Sunday) night in case I needed to put her in the game today. She wanted to be ready. She’s an outstanding athlete and a beautiful person. She’s going to be missed so much.

“We could not have done this without Kristin Renken. She stepped in to be a starting catcher this year because our catcher from last year wasn’t here anymore. If she wasn’t able to learn and grow and do this job, we wouldn’t have gone anywhere. She stepped in and did fabulously. I couldn’t be happier or more proud of her.”