Lewis, Ramblers shut down Trevians’ special season

Seeing as it was a first impression, Loyola Academy pitcher Hunter Lewis immediately made clear her intentions.

In the junior’s first matchup with New Trier, Lewis struck out the first six batters she faced en route to a 16-strikeout, three-hit shutout in an IHSA Class 4A playoff opener on Wednesday, May 28, at Duke Childs Field in Winnetka.

Lewis, who was her conference’s player of the year, also knocked in the Ramblers’ first run — all they’d end up needing in their 6-0 victory.

“I was excited going into it because they’ve never seen me pitch and don’t know what I have,” said Lewis, a junior and Northwestern commit. “Also, I knew we had to get past this game to get to our regional (championship), but I was fairly confident and am excited for the regional (title game on Friday).”

She added, “I was really just focused on nailing the zone right away, not really giving them much and working with what I have, try to be efficient with my pitches.”

Lewis’ RBI single in the third inning got the scoring going for Loyola, which tacked on two more runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

Maggie Herbert’s two-run double in the sixth inning was the game’s biggest blow, and the sophomore outfielder added a walk and two runs scored for the Ramblers.

Moira Divane added a pair of RBI for Loyola.

The victory was Loyola’s ninth straight following a 4-15 start to the season, during which Lewis missed approximately two weeks with an injury. The slow start resulted in Loyola receiving the 11 seed (of 18 teams) in the Class 4A Stevenson Sectional and a playoff-opening matchup with No. 7 New Trier, the Central Suburban South champions.

Lewis and company advance to take on No. 2 Warren (18-9) at 4 p.m. Friday in Winnetka.

“We’ve never played Warren; I’ve never pitched against Warren,” Lewis said. ” … but same mindset: attack the zone, making sure I’m sticking to what I’m used to and not letting the moment get to me,”

Despite the lack of scoring, New Trier hitters did make Lewis work on Wednesday.

Senior Trinity Andelin’s bunt single in the third was the team’s first hit, while Campbell Bach added a double in the fifth and Harper Glinn a single in the seventh.

The Ramblers defense stood behind their hurler. Third baseman Claire Tibshrany caught a laser off the bat of Ilana Styles in the sixth, and right fielder Abby Murphy made a diving catch on Kennedy Glinn’s looping line drive near the foul line in the seventh inning.

“With a pitcher that dominant in the circle, you have to make the rest of her team do the work,” Kennedy Glinn said. “We did that, but not until a bit later. That was where it was tough for us.

“Velocity is the biggest thing (with Lewis). We don’t see that very often. And she throws rises and curves, and with that velocity that’s hard to pick up on, especially in your earlier at-bats.”

Filling in for Trevians head coach Rose Wysocki, assistant coach Peyton Arenson praised her team’s defense — highlighted by Bach gunning down a runner at home plate in the third inning.

Arenson also praised the team’s poise the entire season, a season in which New Trier posted its best record (16-8) since 2014 and won the Central Suburban South Division for the first time since 2016.

“Our mindset honestly was to give it our all and do what we could do,” Arenson said. “We’re super proud of this group and the way they’ve held their composure, kept their heads high and done what we’ve asked them to do.

“Are we super happy about the outcome? No, but we’re super happy that we tried our best and continued to work. Especially today with Hunter (Lewis) on the mound, we did our best and did the things we wanted to do. We got hits. We got on base. We still fought.”

Trinity Andelin and Kennedy Glinn were the only two seniors on a Trevians’ roster loaded with junior starters, including All-Conference selections Harper Glinn, Lyla Andelin and Styles.

Kennedy Glinn, who is bound for Colgate University to play field hockey, said this year’s Trevians achieved so much because of their unity and she believes in this team’s future.

“There is a whole lot of love and friendship on the team,” she said. “We were each other’s support systems and I think it can be really rare to have that. I think in the end we win, because of that. In the end it is really about the people we are surrounded with on the team that makes it a great place.”

About next season, she added, “I think they can do a lot, I think if they put their minds to it they can do it. I think this team can go really really far next year, I have really high hopes. There is going to be a huge senior class next year and they are all super talented.”

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