Naperville Central head coach Bill Seiple and assistant Phil Lawler are still reeling over the Redskins` forced exit from the Class AA sectional tournament, but already they are thinking ahead. ”It`s going to take some time, I can tell you that,” said Seiple, whose team forfeited Saturday to Oswego and probably will have to forfeit all 25 of the victories it achieved with Rich Ostopowitz, who was ineligible, in the lineup. ”I`m a little bitter and a little hurt,” Seiple said. ”The Illinois High School Association didn`t look at the situation. They looked at the rule. But I don`t think they hold any grudges against us.” Said Lawler: ”In some ways it`s going to be easy to pick up the pieces because of the pride these kids brought to the program. Our seniors have given a strong example to the underclassmen. They may think they`ve knocked us down, but they really haven`t.” Ostopowitz moved to Naperville with his mother after his parents separated last summer. His father stayed in the family home in Bolingbrook. Since the Ostopowitzes are not divorced, IHSA by-laws consider the student`s residence that in which the family last lived together as a family. . . . Oak Forest, going for its second consecutive state title, might be a dynasty in the making. The Bengals start three juniors and a sophomore. Junior pitcher Tim Trunk is 11-0 and went all the way in a 9-6 victory over Andrew despite throwing 138 pitches in seven innings and giving up 10 hits and seven walks. . . . Marian Catholic junior Kevin Thompson had to miss two weeks of the season after suffering an ankle injury when he was hit by a pitch. But he didn`t miss many swings. ”He was on crutches and he was still hitting,” said Spartan coach Ron Guagenti, who sends his team into Monday`s sectional championship at Reavis against defending Class AA state champion Oak Forest. ”He was hitting off the tee, hitting flip throws. We couldn`t keep him down.” Thompson, a left-handed hitter, carries a .500 average into the final.
Softball
St. Francis de Sales coach Ray Kosinski celebrated his 48th birthday Saturday by watching his Pioneers defeat eighth-ranked Andrew 6-5 in the semifinals of the Class AA Bremen sectional. De Sales (28-6) will play Thornwood (30-6) Monday for the championship. ”I feel a lot younger,” said Kosinski, father of De Sales pitcher Kim Kosinski. ”This is probably the best birthday I`ve had in a long time.” De Sales was losing 5-0 in the second inning, but the Pioneers scored runs in the second and third and tied the score with three runs in the fourth. Catcher Kelly Kavanaugh hit a bases-loaded single to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Andrew coach Larry Hedger thought his team let the game get away. ”This game was indicative of our whole season,” said Hedger, whose team finished 26-10. ”We started out strong and then kind of let up.” . . . Morton pounded York 11-1 and 29-10 the first two times the teams met. Monday`s sectional final at Morton could be a different story. York has won 20 of its last 22 games. ”We had a transition with basketball,” said York coach Tom Babyar. ”That`s no excuse, though. We came out expecting to lose and they gave us our lunch. Basically, we were 6-6 before we got going. We got run over by Morton twice, Maine South twice and Leyden. Then we had a closed-door session and out attitude changed.” . . . York got a two-run homer from Sheila Bullock in the first inning of its 9-2 sectional semifinal victory over Elk Grove. Bullock has hit four homers in the playoffs, all in the first inning. Michelle Cleeton hit a two-run homer in the second inning and Laura Gentile hit a three-run homer in the third. All the homers came with two outs. . . . In 1962, as a 17- year-old, Babyar played on a Chicago-based Connie Mack team that finished third in the country. His team lost in the opening round of the national tournament to a squad that had Cub announcer Steve Stone pitching and the late Thurman Munson catching. Babyar`s team battled back in the consolation bracket. Babyar, 39, has grown to love softball, having coached York for the last eight years. At first, he was not so enamored. ”I was sitting next to our athletic director, Jack Tosh, watching a baseball game and I said, `That`s what I would like to be doing some day, coaching baseball.` He remembered my interest in baseball, and when the softball job opened up, he said: `Hey, it`s almost the same thing. Are you interested?` And I said, `Nah, I don`t think so.` I`m glad he talked me into it.”
