BLOOMINGTON — After four intense scoreless innings with a trip to state on the line, Lockport broke the ice in the fifth inning Monday. And it was time for Addie Way to have some fun.
And, boy, did she ever have fun.
The junior third baseman laughed it up with her fellow infielders before the start of the sixth. Then before the seventh, while senior pitcher Kelcie McGraw warmed up, Way and junior first baseman Alexis Vander Tuuk were singing and swaying to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
Yes, good times never seemed so good.
“We felt the pressure going into the game,” Way said. “But as the night went on, we trusted our teammates and we trusted each other. It’s just fun all of the time.
“We’re always up. We’re always cheering.”
There was plenty to cheer about at Inspiration Field at Carol Willis Park after Way scored the second run in a two-run fifth inning, helping the Porters beat Bradley-Bourbonnais 2-0 in the Class 4A Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional.
Way and Rheanna Slavicek scored the runs for Lockport (31-9), while Taylor Lane hit a sacrifice fly and the Colgate-bound McGraw singled home a run and struck out 10 in a two-hit shutout.
Loyola recruit Lydia Hammond allowed four hits for Bradley (22-12), but back-to-back walks to Slavicek and Way in the fifth helped start the Porters’ rally and send them to the state semifinals.
Lockport will play at 3 p.m. Friday in the final four at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria against Barrington (34-3-1), a 4-1 supersectional winner Monday over St. Charles East (23-16).
And for the close-knit Porters, that means everything.
“I really feel like we are a family,” Way said. “We are a family on the softball field and off the softball field. We really trust each other.”
The trustworthy Way, meanwhile, has been dangerous this spring with her bat. She’s hitting .344 with 33 runs and 18 walks, but she also helps the Porters in other ways.
“She brings so much energy to the field,” McGraw said of Way. “She’s a great person and a great teammate. Everybody loves her. We wouldn’t be the team we are without her.
“She makes great plays on defense. She hits. We wouldn’t be here without her.”
Lockport’s Marissa Chovanec, who in her second year as coach won the Class AA state championship in 2004 but last reached state in 2005, appreciates what Way brings to the table.
“Addie brings energy and is one of our leaders,” Chovanec said. “She stepped in at third base when we had an injury earlier in the season. She’s done a great job hitting in the No. 2 spot, just keeping the spark in the lineup going.
“She helps not only with her body language but with her performances.”
To even get to the supersectional wasn’t easy for the Porters. After a 17-0 win over Thornwood to open the playoffs, Lockport topped Shepard 2-0, defeated Lincoln-Way East 3-0 and slipped past Lincoln-Way Central and Florida State-bound pitcher Lisabella Dimitrijevic 2-0 in 10 innings.
Way is generally positive, but there was a time in the season that she wasn’t so sure the Porters would get this far. They were 3-6 during a stretch in late March and early April, but things turned around and now Lockport has won 17 straight.
“They way we started, we were down on ourselves,” Way said. “We knew we had to pick it up. We talked to our coach. We talked to our players.
“We all came together in our locker one day and said, ‘We really gotta pick it up. We were good last season and shouldn’t be playing like this.’ Ever since then, it’s been great.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
